HEADLINE: Mission to the edge of space, Red Bull Stratos

As I am sure you are all aware (or at least you should be), we have one hell of a brave and dare-devilish man set to make his way into space…well, near enough.

Today we have Felix Baumgartner, a professional base jumper flying up to the borderline of space. And no, he is not trying to extend his CV to the likes of Neil Armstrong, because at 120,000 ft. he will be jumping out and making his way back to earth. Branded as the Red Bull Stratos, here is what the worldwide adrenaline junkies have to say about the mission;

“Red Bull Stratos, a mission to the edge of space, will attempt to transcend human limits that have existed for 50 years. Supported by a team of experts Felix Baumgartner plans to ascend to 120,000 feet in a stratospheric balloon and make a freefall jump rushing towards earth at supersonic speeds before parachuting to the ground. His attempt to dare atmospheric limits holds the potential to provide valuable medical and scientific research data for future pioneers.”

Although being the Digital Client Services Manager for JBi comes with it’s adventures, I can happily say that jumping out of a balloon is something that I will not be adding to my portfolio of skills. However, this story got me thinking about the insane speed of technology and the major milestonesin life it created.

Space vs Internet

The day man first stepped foot on the moon was by far the greatest achievement in the existence of humans, but what did it really do for us? Similar to the magnitude of space, we have the internet and we have more so reaped in the benefits of this huge technological universe than landing on our extinct nearby planetoid (thanks www.thesaurus.com). By no means am I saying that landing on the moon or jumping out of a balloon at 120,000 ft. is not a feat of human achievement, but how is it that the speed of developing technology on earth is so rapid to that of exploring outside of earth?

Let’s look at the telephone. In 1876, the first patent was made for this new-found technology and 136 years later we now have it in our pockets, with its extreme capabilities of connecting to almost every corner of the world in one click of a button. Furthermore, I can use my girlfriends credit card to order myself a Dominos pizza using the iPhone app. In 1969, man made his first step on the moon and since then we have only just made plans on making our way to Mars. Obviously we have to walk before we can run, but at what time are we going to feel the need to progress our “exploratory wants” to a more immediate level?

I am aware that some science boff will soon be coming up to me and explaining this exact question with an answer I will not understand, but I am extremely curious to know what were the case if the same speed of development was within space exploration instead of the internet and where we would be now.

“So, how does this all relate to JBi Web Design?” I hear you ask. Fortunately for you, we have partnered with NASA to bring you websites that are ‘out of this world’… Sorry. In summary, good luck Felix and I’ll just keep designing websites and going on Facebook.