At the start of the jump he started spinning out of control, but he regained it later. I always thought he just got the hang of it, but if he was claustrophobic, maybe he panicked a bit before composing himself.
rich_sasha · 3h ago
Wearing a spacesuit, you can't scratch your nose.
You maybe don't think it's a big thing but try sitting one minute without touching your face.
I have no idea why you think this is a thing, but just in case I subconsciously tend to do this, I set a timer for 2 minutes without touching my face.
It was effortless.
Edit: wait, I've been in an MRI machine for over an hour where I can't move my arms from my side. How can you think one minute is anything?
shabbychef · 1h ago
he died doing what he loved: descending from the sky to harass a guestworker.
more_corn · 4h ago
I always appreciate when a daredevil dies doing what he loves.
Seriously, these people don’t want to die in bed. They want to live, live, live and then blink out.
I’ve seen too many people withering away in hospital beds.
RamblingCTO · 4h ago
> He lost control of the craft and crashed into a swimming pool at a coastal resort, striking a young woman who was injured on impact.
not cool
toomuchtodo · 4h ago
Some grace is needed, as a medical event was the root cause.
edit: unexpected unconsciousness is not a medical event?
RamblingCTO · 4h ago
all we know is that we became unconscious, right?
shadowgovt · 4h ago
As generally people don't just nod off flying a paraglider, a medical event is extremely likely even if it has not been officially determined.
aaroninsf · 3h ago
They might however "nod off" in consequence of losing control during risk-taking activities and being subjected to high Gs.
Whether "medical event" was prior to or resulted from risk-taking adventure,
and hence culpability, will await forensics I imagine. If those are possible.
That determination aside however,
risk-taking that puts others at risk (e.g., flying over other people) is morally and in many jurisdictions legally prohibited for obvious reasons.
hotpocket777 · 3h ago
Do you mean activities like driving a car?
shadowgovt · 2h ago
I don't think that's true. I see powered paragliders out at the beach all the time, and to my knowledge that was perfectly legal as long as you are licensed properly.
I suspect that the story here is that until things went wrong nobody expected that this was a risk-taking activity in the first place (any more so than paragliding in general is). Do we have reason to believe he was doing it unsafely before disaster struck and he lost control?
throwawayoldie · 4h ago
Also not cool:
> In recent years, he made headlines of a different sort with controversial political statements, criticizing German and Austrian migration policies and opining that a "moderate dictatorship" would be preferable to a democracy, in which "you can't move anything."
> In 2016, he recommended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for the Nobel Peace Prize and endorsed a right-wing populist candidate for the Austrian presidency.
jjcob · 4h ago
I don't get why people can't just keep their stupid opinions to themselves.
That guy achieved some pretty amazing stuff, and I loved watching him, but then he starts publicly talking political bullshit to the media and it gets a bit hard to ignore that he is an asshole.
A lot of accomplished people are probably assholes in private, but they don't talk about it in public.
I wish Baumgartner would have just stuck to talking about the stuff he really knew very well.
ryandrake · 3h ago
It sucks when you find out an artist you like or someone who accomplished something you find impressive, is actually a terrible person. I suppose it's useful to be able to separate the artist from the art, appreciating the thing while acknowledging the person is flawed. This happens all the time with historical figures, authors, musicians, and so on. They build up this library of great work and achievement, but they somehow can't keep their opinions to themselves and end up outing themselves as bigots or worse. We can admire their works while condemning their beliefs.
kleton · 4h ago
Celebrities voice their political opinions in public for the same reasons you are right now. They have a strongly-held belief and want to improve their city, nation, or world. And given that they are well-known, feel a duty to use this platform to advance their beliefs.
Scoundreller · 3h ago
Or carefully calculated messages (possibly written by a 3rd party) that they know their fan-base will eat up.
You don’t need everyone to appreciate you, just enough people to love you and throw their money/interest back at you.
southernplaces7 · 4h ago
In summary: "Why does this guy have to have his own mind, filled with opinions and beliefs that I happen to not like, and then actually talk about them publicly?"
Grow up. One isn't an automatic asshole just because they don't share your worldview.
layer8 · 3h ago
The more prominent you are in the public sphere, the more responsibility you have for the opinions you espouse publicly.
shadowgovt · 4h ago
No, but they might be if they advocate for a "moderate dictatorship" to replace a democracy.
happytoexplain · 3h ago
I disagree - it's not really a horrific opinion to feel that both democracies and dictatorships are absolute catastrophes at the moment. Clearly there's a correct choice among only those two options, but something in between might be even better. Of course I have no idea how you would make a dictatorship "moderate", but I'd love for it to be a real thing, and it doesn't feel reasonable to imply a person is a monster for agreeing with me on that particular thing.
jl6 · 3h ago
For all their failings, there is nothing catastrophic about democracies at the moment. Not compared to the actual catastrophes that autocracies commit. Lumping the two together as equally failed is ridiculous.
shigawire · 4h ago
It's just about going outside your expertise.
There's some things I know a bit about... But if I was spouting off about skydiving when I know little about it, that makes me an asshole. Especially, to extend the metaphor, if I was spreading misinformation that led to people being hurt.
Anyways, like I always say, parachutes are optional really.
southernplaces7 · 3h ago
Having a general opinion about things outside your very specific area of expertise in the world does not make you an asshole. It makes you a human being, and just as the comment above is also spouting an opinion outside the poster's area of expertise (unless he's an immigration policy and political analysis expert), the same right applies to a skydiver. I have a profession, but I also have opinions on many subjects I've read about in some depth. I should keep my mouth shut about them due to a lack of professional certifications because some people find it convenient to harp on that out of their own ideological fixations? Absurd nonsense.
Also, an opinion that doesn't tick all the check boxes of pro-immigration and open borders isn't automatically "hurtful misinformation" You should really qualify that particular line of censorious bullshit. More recently, the biggest fans of narratives about hurtful misinformation that I've seen tend to be authoritarians on the right, curiously enough.
jjcob · 3h ago
You shape your public image by deciding what you talk about.
Do you want to be known as a legendary skydiver? Then talk about the amazing achievements and plans for the future you made.
Do you want to be known as a former athlete with questionable political views? Then go talk to the media doubling down on stupid memes you posted on facebook.
I have no interest in learning more about the latter. I guess that's why most of us eventually forgot about him until he tragically passed away today.
throwawayoldie · 4h ago
Wrong. Not all opinions are equally valid.
mschuster91 · 4h ago
> In recent years, he made headlines of a different sort with controversial political statements, criticizing German and Austrian migration policies and opining that a "moderate dictatorship" would be preferable to a democracy, in which "you can't move anything."
That's putting it mildly. The full quote [1] is:
> Wie weit sind wir bereit unsere Identität und unsere Kultur aufzugeben und sie zu vermischen mit einer völlig anderen Religion und Ideologie?
or translated:
> How ready are we to give up our identity and culture and to mix it with a completely different religion and ideology?
That is 1:1 naked "great replacement" theory, the stuff that the vilest of the vile of the far-right believe in [2].
On top of that, he believed that domestic violence is acceptable in disciplining children [3].
>the ethnic French and white European populations at large are being demographically and culturally replaced by non-white peoples—especially from Muslim-majority countries—through mass migration, demographic growth and a drop in the birth rate of white Europeans.
You call it demographic shift, Wikipedia calls it Great Replacement.
Edit:
It was conspiracy theory in 2010, that became recently fact.
throwawayoldie · 2h ago
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that figure is accurate.
So what?
slaw · 2h ago
So another conspiracy theory became fact and Epstein didn't kill himself.
mathiaspoint · 4h ago
You label it correctly but have no counter argument. If they consequence of tolerance is destruction then tolerance is not a viable policy.
mschuster91 · 4h ago
The "great replacement" theory is long-debunked hogwash.
shadowgovt · 3h ago
Hacker News is not an appropriate forum to debate "great replacement theory."
happytoexplain · 4h ago
I'm not familiar with the qualitative nature of the German/Austrian right wing right now (e.g. you can be an anti-immigration right winger without being Trumpian), but none of that sounds worthy of a dismissive attitude at face value.
Obviously I would not be surprised if he was a typical asshole about things like this. I just don't like the usage of those political opinions in particular as "this is a bad person" evidence.
throwawayoldie · 4h ago
> he recommended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for the Nobel Peace Prize
mschuster91 · 4h ago
That's because the stuff is wrapped in layers. Read the original quotes (I've translated in [1]), or run the German Wikipedia article through a translation engine [2].
Yeah, he's definitely an asshole. But mostly in tone - most of the concrete stuff in this summary section consists of theoretically defensible conservative positions. To be clear: I'm not defending him holistically. I don't know him. I just don't like the idea of anti-immigration opinion as a whole, and the idea that democracy is failing rapidly, being elevated into the echelon of indefensible positions.
Of course "dictatorship", moderate or otherwise, is a scary word to hear from a German/Austrian. But simply the idea that there could be something in-between democracy and dictatorship? That doesn't sound insane. Just daunting. Also, he doesn't even seem married to the idea. The summary mentions his admiration of direct democracy.
southernplaces7 · 4h ago
From Wikipedia:
"On 13 July 2016, Facebook deleted his fan page of 1.5 million fans. Baumgartner subsequently claimed that he must have become "too uncomfortable" for "political elites".[48]"
Because of his pro-right viewpoints. For one thing, it's slightly amusing considering Zuckerberg's own politically convenient pirouettes on politics and management. Secondly, it reminds me why the argument was very much on the mark that social media in those days absolutely did work hard to shut don all kinds of opinions that didn't fit with dominant groupthink.
It's idiotic that a famous figure should be subject to such a deletion as soon as they deviate from a specific progressive discourse, even if one disagrees with its opposite in so many ways.
shadowgovt · 3h ago
Do we have a timeline of the deletion? I don't think I'm a priori convinced that he was deleted "as soon as [he deviated] from a specific progressive discourse." If anything, prior to Jan 6, 2021 (when Zuckerberg became aware that there was such a thing as aiding and abetting treason if enough political figures decided Facebook had been complicit in organizing an attempted coup), the site was permissive in the extreme; their goal was to maximize userbase to maximize revenue, and they were very loathe to ban anyone.
postsantum · 4h ago
> controversial political views
Why is this relevant in a eulogy? It reminds me of a Soviet encyclopedia for kids that had an obligatory part in every bio about what a person used to think about communism or some assumption what they would think if communism was invented during their lifetime
Disgusting.
perching_aix · 4h ago
Reflects on the image of a public person, whose politics they themselves apparently made a significant enough part of.
jjcob · 4h ago
It's relevant because that's what most people in Austria remember him for.
First he got famous for the Sky Dive from space
Then he made headlines for his facebook posts, sharing questionable opinions with the media, and supporting right wing politician like Strache (who is currently on trial for embezzling party money to fund his lavish lifestyle).
It's a part of his public persona, not mentioning it would be weird. It's not like he shared his questionable views in private.
EA-3167 · 4h ago
He was on record advocating for dictatorship. I'm not saying that in a typically hyperbolic, social media sense either, he used the terminology himself. So yes, when a state news agency is announcing the death of someone who's major contributions have been some very impressive sporting achievements... and having political views that are fairly alarming coming from anyone, never mind an Austrian, it might come up. It wasn't a one-off either, he later pointed out Victor Orban as a model for how to handle government, immigration, etc.
If you want a eulogy I'd suggest seeking out the eulogy his family probably published, not a death announcement from DW.
https://felixbaumgartner.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Stratos
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/projects/red-bull-stratos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYw4meRWGd4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raiFrxbHxV0
After CBT he was able to tolerate the suit and complete the jump.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/skydiver-felix-baumgartner-ove...
You maybe don't think it's a big thing but try sitting one minute without touching your face.
I've also read that many astronauts put strips of adhesive Velcro in their helmet for this purpose: https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/42012/nose-scratch...
It was effortless.
Edit: wait, I've been in an MRI machine for over an hour where I can't move my arms from my side. How can you think one minute is anything?
not cool
edit: unexpected unconsciousness is not a medical event?
Whether "medical event" was prior to or resulted from risk-taking adventure,
and hence culpability, will await forensics I imagine. If those are possible.
That determination aside however,
risk-taking that puts others at risk (e.g., flying over other people) is morally and in many jurisdictions legally prohibited for obvious reasons.
I suspect that the story here is that until things went wrong nobody expected that this was a risk-taking activity in the first place (any more so than paragliding in general is). Do we have reason to believe he was doing it unsafely before disaster struck and he lost control?
> In recent years, he made headlines of a different sort with controversial political statements, criticizing German and Austrian migration policies and opining that a "moderate dictatorship" would be preferable to a democracy, in which "you can't move anything."
> In 2016, he recommended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for the Nobel Peace Prize and endorsed a right-wing populist candidate for the Austrian presidency.
That guy achieved some pretty amazing stuff, and I loved watching him, but then he starts publicly talking political bullshit to the media and it gets a bit hard to ignore that he is an asshole.
A lot of accomplished people are probably assholes in private, but they don't talk about it in public.
I wish Baumgartner would have just stuck to talking about the stuff he really knew very well.
You don’t need everyone to appreciate you, just enough people to love you and throw their money/interest back at you.
Grow up. One isn't an automatic asshole just because they don't share your worldview.
There's some things I know a bit about... But if I was spouting off about skydiving when I know little about it, that makes me an asshole. Especially, to extend the metaphor, if I was spreading misinformation that led to people being hurt.
Anyways, like I always say, parachutes are optional really.
Also, an opinion that doesn't tick all the check boxes of pro-immigration and open borders isn't automatically "hurtful misinformation" You should really qualify that particular line of censorious bullshit. More recently, the biggest fans of narratives about hurtful misinformation that I've seen tend to be authoritarians on the right, curiously enough.
Do you want to be known as a legendary skydiver? Then talk about the amazing achievements and plans for the future you made.
Do you want to be known as a former athlete with questionable political views? Then go talk to the media doubling down on stupid memes you posted on facebook.
I have no interest in learning more about the latter. I guess that's why most of us eventually forgot about him until he tragically passed away today.
That's putting it mildly. The full quote [1] is:
> Wie weit sind wir bereit unsere Identität und unsere Kultur aufzugeben und sie zu vermischen mit einer völlig anderen Religion und Ideologie?
or translated:
> How ready are we to give up our identity and culture and to mix it with a completely different religion and ideology?
That is 1:1 naked "great replacement" theory, the stuff that the vilest of the vile of the far-right believe in [2].
On top of that, he believed that domestic violence is acceptable in disciplining children [3].
[1] https://www.sn.at/salzburg/chronik/felix-baumgartner-wird-po...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Replacement_conspiracy_t...
[3] https://www.diepresse.com/1433977/felix-baumgartner-ohrfeige...
"Great replacement" is not a theory but a fact.
https://www.wien.gv.at/english/social/integration/facts-figu...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Replacement_conspiracy_t...
You call it demographic shift, Wikipedia calls it Great Replacement.
Edit:
It was conspiracy theory in 2010, that became recently fact.
So what?
Obviously I would not be surprised if he was a typical asshole about things like this. I just don't like the usage of those political opinions in particular as "this is a bad person" evidence.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44597171
[2] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Baumgartner#Umstrittene_...
Of course "dictatorship", moderate or otherwise, is a scary word to hear from a German/Austrian. But simply the idea that there could be something in-between democracy and dictatorship? That doesn't sound insane. Just daunting. Also, he doesn't even seem married to the idea. The summary mentions his admiration of direct democracy.
"On 13 July 2016, Facebook deleted his fan page of 1.5 million fans. Baumgartner subsequently claimed that he must have become "too uncomfortable" for "political elites".[48]"
Because of his pro-right viewpoints. For one thing, it's slightly amusing considering Zuckerberg's own politically convenient pirouettes on politics and management. Secondly, it reminds me why the argument was very much on the mark that social media in those days absolutely did work hard to shut don all kinds of opinions that didn't fit with dominant groupthink.
It's idiotic that a famous figure should be subject to such a deletion as soon as they deviate from a specific progressive discourse, even if one disagrees with its opposite in so many ways.
Why is this relevant in a eulogy? It reminds me of a Soviet encyclopedia for kids that had an obligatory part in every bio about what a person used to think about communism or some assumption what they would think if communism was invented during their lifetime
Disgusting.
First he got famous for the Sky Dive from space
Then he made headlines for his facebook posts, sharing questionable opinions with the media, and supporting right wing politician like Strache (who is currently on trial for embezzling party money to fund his lavish lifestyle).
It's a part of his public persona, not mentioning it would be weird. It's not like he shared his questionable views in private.
If you want a eulogy I'd suggest seeking out the eulogy his family probably published, not a death announcement from DW.