The Short Way Home

It was sunday when Felix Baumgartner got the all clear to lift off in a gigantic helium balloon up to the edge of space. 

His mission? To wrestle away the Free Fall record set in 1960 by Joe Kittinger and break the sound barrier – oh and sell some drinks.

Red Bull, the sponsor and friend to adrenalin junkies around the world were footing the bill with help from American experts from various agencies.

Along with the sound barrier being broken, the You Tube record was also eclipsed with millions of hits recorded.

With so much misery and vacuous trite in the world today and with so much of it relayed on the Net, It was wonderful to see an uplifting moment by way of a downward plunge, all captured in real time.

One could imagine a collective gulp as Felix bunny hopped away from his ledge into a tiny white dot within seconds. It was leap bordering on the divine all caught by helmet, chest and capsule cameras.

With added drama we witnessed a death spin, which resonated in human terms by cutaway shots of Felix’s love ones. At once we are reminded how insanely dangerous this commercial is, and like the best commercials we forget the product but remember the event.

Was it a stunt with scientific implications? Undeniably. Don’t drink Red Bull - Shit while… doing anything!!

One can’t imagine Felix ingesting a cocktail so as inviting as Glucuronolacton, Taurine, sugar, more sugar and Camel piss.

Interestingly in this election cycle we have two men citing the merits of government and private enterprise. President Obama makes the claim “Government built that” while Mitt Romney says business created everything, including Mormonism. 

They both have reasonable arguments, however private equity firms are more interested in slash and burn ; a parallel force of government and private sector has emerged particularly when it comes to Space achievements - the wonderful NASA led Mars landings and Virgin’s Galactic Space tours all point to a combined effort to push expedition and commerce into the future. 

It was the Taxpayers State built road that carried the capsule to the launch pad, while former NASA engineers rigged up a commercially funded balloon, jump suit, parachute and personnel. Don’t you wish Congress could work like that?

Before Sunday, Felix Baumgartner was not a house hold name. 

It took only nine minutes for that too change with a graceful glide onto a New Mexican desert.

Bravo!