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We need more hero-engineers like him. Now he's cool, as opposed to just nerdy (and rich). Bang for the buck, this is going to help STEM a great deal. Astronaut

We need more hero-engineers like him. Now he's cool, as opposed to just nerdy (and rich). Bang for the buck, this is going to help STEM a great deal. Astronaut daredevils: both cool and nerdy.

ForHackernews 12y ago
How is he a hero? What was "heroic" about this stunt?
- fixermark 12y ago
  There's some heroism in daring to do something technically possible that hasn't been done before---the fact that he did it with world-class technical backing and engineering work doesn't diminish the fact that at the end of the day, he strapped into that suit and he rode it down. Apollo 11's crew had all of NASA backing it; that doesn't make them less heroic.
  - lmm 12y ago
    They were heroic because they took those risks, at least in some part, for science, for the good of humankind. Armstrong wanted to be recognised as a geologist (cynthiologist?) more than as an astronaut. This sounds like it's just some rich guy doing it for fun. Which, y'know, best of luck to him, enjoy what you've earned, but it seems no more heroic than buying a Ferrari.
    - djloche 12y ago
      This would be like buying a Ferrari and then re-engineering it to be able to successfully break the world land speed record.
      - gaadd33 12y ago
        Pretty much what this guy did: http://www.bobnorwood.com/Norwood%20Accomplishments.htm http://www.bobnorwood.com/Norwood%20Accomplishments.htm
    - seanflyon 12y ago
      > no more heroic than buying a Ferrari. A better analogy would be: No more heroic than risking his life to design and build a better sports car than has ever been built.
    - cpncrunch 12y ago
      "The project was performed by the Paragon StratEx team to test spacesuit technologies for several applications, including exploration of the Earth's stratosphere, supersonic research and spacecraft emergency escape studies" http://www.space.com/27537-supersonic-near-space-dive-photos.html http://www.space.com/27537-supersonic-near-space-dive-photos...
- Zikes 12y ago
  "A person [...] who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities." Of the three criterion listed, I'd say he met each of them.
davesque 12y ago
I don't agree that sensational risk-taking is good for science.
- jallmann 12y ago
  Maybe being sensational is unnecessary, but risk taking is absolutely necessary for science. Recently on HN: the story of John Paul Stapp, the fastest man on earth [1] [2] Sensationalism, while perhaps strictly unnecessary, is inspiring, and that is very good for science. Anyway this jump was positively muted, especially compared to the publicity that Felix Baumgartner's jump got. Some attention is necessary; how else are we supposed to know about great feats people have accomplished, scientific or otherwise? Aside from news articles about the jump itself, there is a very informative website about the goals of the company behind this jump [3] [1] http://www.ejectionsite.com/stapp.htm http://www.ejectionsite.com/stapp.htm [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8465306 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8465306 [3] http://www.paragonsdc.com/stratex/ http://www.paragonsdc.com/stratex/
  - davesque 12y ago
    Did I say "risk-taking is not good for science?" That's a straw man.
    - drdeca 12y ago
      I'm not sure. They seemed to be taking the phrase "sensational risk taking" and evaluating the two parts separately. That is, considering whether risk-taking is good, and also considering whether making something sensational is good. They argued first that risk taking is necessary, and then on top of that, gave an argument that sensationalism can have some positive consequences. I think this (breaking the response into responses to the two parts) is probably quite distinct from a straw man, and except for potential problems from not specifically covering the interactions between the two parts, seems probably valid? Unless they edited the post since you responded, which I can't tell if that is the case or not. tl;dr: I don't think they were acting as if you said that?
- deleted 12y ago

We need more hero-engineers like him. Now he's cool, as opposed to just nerdy (and rich). Bang for the buck, this is going to help STEM a great deal. Astronaut daredevils: both cool and nerdy.

ForHackernews 12y ago

How is he a hero? What was "heroic" about this stunt?

fixermark 12y ago
There's some heroism in daring to do something technically possible that hasn't been done before---the fact that he did it with world-class technical backing and engineering work doesn't diminish the fact that at the end of the day, he strapped into that suit and he rode it down. Apollo 11's crew had all of NASA backing it; that doesn't make them less heroic.
- lmm 12y ago
  They were heroic because they took those risks, at least in some part, for science, for the good of humankind. Armstrong wanted to be recognised as a geologist (cynthiologist?) more than as an astronaut. This sounds like it's just some rich guy doing it for fun. Which, y'know, best of luck to him, enjoy what you've earned, but it seems no more heroic than buying a Ferrari.
  - djloche 12y ago
    This would be like buying a Ferrari and then re-engineering it to be able to successfully break the world land speed record.
    - gaadd33 12y ago
      Pretty much what this guy did: http://www.bobnorwood.com/Norwood%20Accomplishments.htm http://www.bobnorwood.com/Norwood%20Accomplishments.htm
  - seanflyon 12y ago
    > no more heroic than buying a Ferrari. A better analogy would be: No more heroic than risking his life to design and build a better sports car than has ever been built.
  - cpncrunch 12y ago
    "The project was performed by the Paragon StratEx team to test spacesuit technologies for several applications, including exploration of the Earth's stratosphere, supersonic research and spacecraft emergency escape studies" http://www.space.com/27537-supersonic-near-space-dive-photos.html http://www.space.com/27537-supersonic-near-space-dive-photos...
Zikes 12y ago
"A person [...] who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities." Of the three criterion listed, I'd say he met each of them.

davesque 12y ago

I don't agree that sensational risk-taking is good for science.

jallmann 12y ago
Maybe being sensational is unnecessary, but risk taking is absolutely necessary for science. Recently on HN: the story of John Paul Stapp, the fastest man on earth [1] [2] Sensationalism, while perhaps strictly unnecessary, is inspiring, and that is very good for science. Anyway this jump was positively muted, especially compared to the publicity that Felix Baumgartner's jump got. Some attention is necessary; how else are we supposed to know about great feats people have accomplished, scientific or otherwise? Aside from news articles about the jump itself, there is a very informative website about the goals of the company behind this jump [3] [1] http://www.ejectionsite.com/stapp.htm http://www.ejectionsite.com/stapp.htm [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8465306 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8465306 [3] http://www.paragonsdc.com/stratex/ http://www.paragonsdc.com/stratex/
- davesque 12y ago
  Did I say "risk-taking is not good for science?" That's a straw man.
  - drdeca 12y ago
    I'm not sure. They seemed to be taking the phrase "sensational risk taking" and evaluating the two parts separately. That is, considering whether risk-taking is good, and also considering whether making something sensational is good. They argued first that risk taking is necessary, and then on top of that, gave an argument that sensationalism can have some positive consequences. I think this (breaking the response into responses to the two parts) is probably quite distinct from a straw man, and except for potential problems from not specifically covering the interactions between the two parts, seems probably valid? Unless they edited the post since you responded, which I can't tell if that is the case or not. tl;dr: I don't think they were acting as if you said that?
deleted 12y ago