Beautiful balloon

For those interested in Felix Baumgartner's attempt to break just about every record associated with ballooning or skydiving, it's being broadcast live now on www.space.com.

It happens, coincidentally, to be the 65th anniversary of Chuck Yeager's breaking of the sound barrier in the Bell X-1.

This attempt today is amazing in itself. However, it is critical research for learning how best to escape spacecraft and space stations in Low Earth Orbit. Think of this as a really elaborate Abandon Ship drill. Very cool.