Amazing people, actions and events

[ilkman]

I thought it would be cool to make a thread where people post and discuss the amazing people in this world. The people that go above and beyond and do things that very few of us could possibly even imagine doing let alone actually doing. I also wanted to throw in amazing actions and events just for some variety.

To start things off: Joseph Kittinger. Back in the 60's he was in the Air Force doing some research. His most amazing achievement would be when he was doing high altitude parachute testing for the Air Force.

This video speaks for itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81gn2oLeC_U&feature=related


And this video has all the good falling footage. Ignore the horrible music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Y0_iJrRl0&feature=related

Basically he went up to over 100k feet in a helium balloon, and jumped. 4.5 minute free fall. Hit over 600mph with some debate that he broke the sound barrier. It is official, however, that he did hit 0.9 mach. He holds a few records such as longest free fall and fastest movement through the atmosphere without any assistance.

 

[BillyBadAss]

Yeah, that guy is pretty bad ass. Imagine what it would be like looking out from that balloon just before jumping. Seeing space all around you. ****ing crazy!

 

[ilkman]

He said he couldn't feel the sensation of falling. It was like floating. He had to rotate around and see the balloon falling away to get any sensation of falling or movement. This was at extreme high altitudes of course.

 

[Al]

That was friggin' awesome!

 

[Breadtruck]

Insane. I could never attempt anything on that kind of a scale.

 

[SnaKe-Fu]

I volunteer to retry the test... that would have been so much fun.

 

[Al]

I volunteer to retry the test... that would have been so much fun.

Agreed!

 

[Rambowjo]

He could actually see the edge of the earth. That must've been absolutely amazing :OOO

 

[TossMonkey]

I have heard of jade goody, peter andre, lolo ferrari, dale winton, graham norton, vanessa phelps and vanilla ice.... but why the **** have I never heard of joseph kittinger before now?

What kind of world do I live in where the heroes of the world go unsung but the worst examples of celebrity are revered?

I am expecting more greatness from this thread... please continue :tup:

 

[Al]

I have heard of jade goody, peter andre, lolo ferrari, dale winton, graham norton, vanessa phelps and vanilla ice.... but why the **** have I never heard of joseph kittinger before now?

What kind of world do I live in where the heroes of the world go unsung but the worst examples of celebrity are revered?

I am expecting more greatness from this thread... please continue :tup:

I haven't either till I saw this thread. I spent quite a bit of time today reading about him. The pressure failed in his suit on his right hand that swelled up quite big, but he didn't say anything cause he knew they'd tell him to abort. Dude is a total badass!

 

[Jacks:Revenge]

What kind of world do I live in where the heroes of the world go unsung but the worst examples of celebrity are revered?

It's the world of the internet, 12,000 TV channels and 24-hour news.
Did you expect anything more?

I'm with Al though, never heard of this guy until now and I just spent some time reading up his wiki and about 10 subsequent related pages. I can safely say that this guy Joe was certifiably hardcore. methinks it would be more exciting to do what he did than to walk on the Moon.

 

[Al]

methinks it would be more exciting to do what he did than to walk on the Moon.

Can I get a hell yeah?!

 

[Rambowjo]

To me walking on the moon would be more exciting. The idea of not being on the Earth is just so amazing.

 

[Jacks:Revenge]

Yeah but think about it. They can already simulate low-G movement on Earth, you just won't get that sweet view of the Earth rising above the moon in the black of space. And they can simulate sky-diving on the ground in those big inverted wind tunnels, you just won't get that panoramic view of the big, blue sky all around you.

But you CANNOT simulate what our buddy Joe went through diving out of a balloon miles above the surface, to where he could see the curve of the globe and free falling for almost 5 minutes up to the point of nearly breaking the sound barrier with your own body.

That's f*cking wild as hell.

 

[Kantham]

I'm curious to know why hasn't anyone tried such an exploit again?

 

[DarkED]

I'm curious to know why hasn't anyone tried such an exploit again?

Same here. Why has nobody else ever done this? And why don't skydiving companies offer this?

 

[Rambowjo]

Yeah but think about it. They can already simulate low-G movement on Earth, you just won't get that sweet view of the Earth rising above the moon in the black of space. And they can simulate sky-diving on the ground in those big inverted wind tunnels, you just won't get that panoramic view of the big, blue sky all around you.

But you CANNOT simulate what our buddy Joe went through diving out of a balloon miles above the surface, to where he could see the curve of the glove and free falling for almost 5 minutes up to the point of nearly breaking the sound barrier with your own body.

That's f*cking wild as hell.

I didn't say it wasn't wild

 

[ilkman]

How about the first people to reach the summit of Everest?

Sir Edmund Hillary and his sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

Whats amazing about this? It was done back in 1953. They didn't have as advanced technology and cold weather gear as we have today. Plus I think it was either his first summit, or a subsequent one where Sir Edmund made it without oxygen tanks.

Quite tough I say.

Tenzing on the summit:

 

[ilkman]

Same here. Why has nobody else ever done this? And why don't skydiving companies offer this?

People have tried it again.

As far as I know there have been two attempts. Both have failed due to monetary reasons. I forget the peoples names involved.

 

[Balton]

I have heard of jade goody, peter andre, lolo ferrari, dale winton, graham norton, vanessa phelps and vanilla ice.... but why the **** have I never heard of joseph kittinger before now?

What kind of world do I live in where the heroes of the world go unsung but the worst examples of celebrity are revered?

I am expecting more greatness from this thread... please continue :tup:

Maybe you're scraping the bottom of a barrel media-wise? Put the Sun down and read a real paper or watch some documentaries(guess where I heard of Kittinger) instead of big brother.
If it wasn't for buf OT the likes of Jane Goody would still be strangers to me... so, guess what's my bottom of a barrel