This is very cool: skydivers who make a jump every time the Shuttle launches. But as you watch, you’ll see they do this in Florida, and you can see the Shuttle lifting off in the background!
Tip o’ the helmet cam to BABloggee Kerr Rainey!
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The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking, movie reviews, and all that) can be found here.
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March 17th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Ok… so the shuttle goes up, these guys go down. It’s the law of energy conservation or what?
March 17th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Sweet I would love to do that.
March 17th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Totally totally awesome!! Way to go!
Love it
March 17th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
And me who thought I was cool because I watched it from my bed.
March 17th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
It would be cooler if they’d shut the sound off…
March 17th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
I’ve seen some wingsuit jumpers discussing attempting to land without deploying parachutes. That would be impressive… or horrific and disgusting. It would depend on the outcome.
March 17th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
[...] BA Blog: Shuttle diving has some cool video of skydivers while STS-119 lifts off in the background. (direct link to Vimeo video, about 4 minutes) __________________ No. Yes! Yes! No. Yes! No. No. Yes! Yes! No. No. Yes! No. Yes! Yes! No. Yes! No. No. Yes! No. Yes! Yes! No. No. Yes! Yes! No. Yes! No. No. Yes! … [...]
March 17th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
^ My cousin Lisa landed sans parachute into a sewage treatment pool. She had a double-malfunction and it was her only choice if she wanted to survive. Things worked out well for her, and she walked away from the experience. This was some years ago, when Timex still did the “it takes a licking and keeps on ticking” ads, because they featured her in one.
Me, I only have 116 jumps in, a relative newbie compared to some people.
March 17th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
@Charles Boyer
So was the Timex add about how the watch could survive a fall from a plane, or was it about how it could survive sewage treatment?
March 17th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
To quote Ron Weasley… wicked!
March 17th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
What a coincidence! I was having dinner at the Deland drop zone in Florida right before the shuttle launch. I watched it on my way home, and since it was sunset, it was an awesome sight. The smoke plume looked like it was lit from the inside for several minutes.
March 17th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I still don’t “get” the abandoning a perfectly flyable airplane thing… Guess that’s why I have PILOT wings, not JUMP wings.
March 17th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I’m just glad the jumpers did not tie flares to their legs and set them off, or else we’d have another “Phoenix Lights” story doing the rounds.
March 17th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
From 2:25 to 2:30, is that Venus one can see in the video?
March 18th, 2009 at 4:19 am
stills are available here
March 18th, 2009 at 4:35 am
@J.D Mack, I really doubt that’s Venus, first of all, the object seems to be on the wrong side of the Sun (it should be trailing the Sun, hence it must be to the left). Secondly, on March 15, elongation of Venus was about 20º which is not enough for the separation seen in the video. Based on the fact that at 2:25 the view is mostly towards north and the object’s brightness, my guess is α Lyr a.k.a Vega.
March 18th, 2009 at 5:06 am
Jose – When I was jumping, wingsuits were illegal (at least in CA where I was jumping at the time) – for precisely that reason. The fools actually thought they WERE flying – and could just land. The were wrong.
Sweet photos, but the “commentary” afterwards ALMOST makes me think that the fact the shuttle was there was almost an accident!
OK – I know different, but still: “…And you were like WOOOOOO…. and I was Oh Wow….”…
JC
March 18th, 2009 at 5:15 am
@JackC Actually, these guys plan their jumps to catch the shuttle launch. Jeff, one of the jumper who take incredible pix, actually won a USA Today contest http://www.usatoday.com/marketing/brand_mkt/openair/photo_contest/flash.htm with one of the Discovery launch photos.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:25 am
One of the female shuttle astronauts is a skydiver and we jumped with her out at Houston several times. I am completely blanking on her name though. Anyone know? I’ll have to dig out my logbook.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Re: JD Mack & Venus
I watched the launch from Jupiter, Florida. That is the shuttle after it dropped the solid boosters. We could see the boosters dropping off and the shuttle for several minutes more. Yes, it did look like a star, but after watching for a few more moments than you can see in the video you can see it moving.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:56 am
@3v1l5w1n Just want to point out a little correction: it wasn’t Jeff, but Scotty Burns of Sky Squared Productions (www.sky2productions.com) who won the USA Today Photo contest with last year’s shuttle picture. Both Jeff and Scotty were on the jump featured in the video above, and there is footage from both their cameras on there.
@JackC Okay, the comments at the end aren’t the best, but since you say you’ve skydived before, do you remember what kind of intelligent phrases came out of your mouth after you’d just landed. Add to that the fact that they just jumped *with the shuttle* in the air, and it makes it almost impossible for one to generate any kind of coherent speech. These guys are pumped, adrenalin is flowing… They just landed from a spectacular skydive!!! Of course all they could blurt out was “woooo” and “whoaaa”. It just shows utter excitement.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:27 am
@3v1l5w1n, yeah – I know – it is just that the after chatter – and some of the camera angles – APPEARED to make the launch in the background an accident. I don’t know – it has been a long time for me (over 30 years) but, am I out of line thinking that at least ONE comment would be “Did you get it? Did you get good shots of the launch??”
But no… just babble in jump-speak. I guess I was just amused
Those colours on the smoke trail are just marvelous.
All in all, they did a superb job and the conditions conspired to make it even better.
JC
March 18th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Hey guys, thanks for your interest in our video! Stills are also available at my website~ This is the second Shuttle jump I’ve been a part of, with over 7 or 8 attempts over the last few years. In my humble experience, the most stressful jumps are with the shuttle, because you have such a narrow time window. we actually were supposed to exit the aircraft about 2 miles farther west than we did, due to timing issues with when the shuttle actually lifted off. you can here me say “get out, its off!”, before we exit. Myself, Jeff Nebelkopf and Mike Mascheff had our dive plan, which was centered around what photos I was looking to get, and a plan if we weren’t able to do what we had set out to, due to circumstance. you can see the results in the video, and in the still pictures I was able to get, even though it was more of a night jump rather than a sunset jump. That actually is not venus, but the Shuttles main engines after SRB seperation. This was definately the most visually stunning shuttle launch ive seen, in my 30 years of an inate love of NASA, and Im glad we could share our perspective with all of you. The last photo I took of the shuttle was submitted to USA today by a friend, and I couldnt believe all the support and attention that one photo recieved, from all over the world. thanks for your interest again and check our my site, the newest night shuttle photos are up there~ scottyburns.com
Blue Skies~
Scotty Burns
March 18th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Wow. Sideways shot video is so lame.