On Oct. 14 2012, mankind left one for the history books. Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier … with his own body.
He was able to accomplish this feat through his sponsor, Red Bull, a private corporation that not only produces energy drinks, but sponsors athletes across all spectrums of sports, from rally car racing to downhill skiing. Red Bull Stratos was the official name for the program that threw Baumgartner out of his capsule from over 128,000 feet. It took Baumgartner and the Red Bull team over seven years to plan the Red Bull Stratos project.
During the program, Baumgartner achieved more than just breaking the sound barrier. He fell at an estimated speed of 833.9 mph, shooting past the speed of sound only a few minutes into the fall. To achieve all of this endeavor, Baumgartner and the rest of the Stratos team conducted extensive tests over the seven years, surrounding the gas balloon/capsule that Baumgartner would eventually take up into the upper sections of the stratosphere, and the innovative pressure suit (the first ever not produced by a government agency) that was designed by the David Clark Company—that has been working on Anti G-Suits since 1941.
There have been differing opinions concerning the matter of the private sector taking control of research programs, security details and other jobs previously funded by the government. Since the stock market crash in 2007, privatized corporations have been taking on projects and jobs that government businesses used to handle. One major setback that kept the government from funding programs like Stratos was when Obama shut down the space shuttle program within NASA.
Yes, NASA’s space shuttle program was growing old, as it flew over 130 missions in the 30 years it was operational. And yes, NASA kept its official title intact (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), and is still in service. But, with one of its main activities out of commission, and government cutbacks all across the nation, NASA did not have the funding to finance a man jumping out of a capsule. That’s where Red Bull stepped in.
Red Bull is a privatized company that has spread its influence over 150 countries since its debut in 1982. The company started out producing energy drinks, and is now a 17-year veteran of sponsoring sports teams. But intensive sports and expensive cans of pure sugar are not everything the company revolves around. Their investments range from their own music academy and recording studio in Los Angelos, Calif. Their biggest investment to date is the Stratos program.
Without Red Bull, or any privatized corporation, the Stratos program would never have become a reality — even with the major technological advancements, including the pressure suit. The suit is the next step in full pressure suit technology, giving the wearer more physical motion, along with mirrors, and a new “non-distortion lens” for his helmet, making it the most efficient suit ever made for free fall sky diving.
Imagine what the military could do with this technology if NASA was the original holder of the suit, and was able to just hand it over to the military for free? In my mind, this is the first step toward the Orbital Drop Ship Trooper (ODST) from the famous science fiction series Halo, produced by Bungie. It would give the military a whole new reach of influence, and with a little more development of the suit, it would give the military the ability to send troops safely anywhere in the world from stations located in the atmosphere at a moment’s notice.
Now that a privatized corporation owns the rights and holds the suit, they may make the government spend almost twice as much for the pressure suit. But it’s not even guaranteed that the suit will go to the United States government because it would be sold to the highest bidder. This is one of the major problems when it comes to privatized corporations taking control of programs and jobs that used to be controlled by the government. All the information that would have been owned by the government and spread freely throughout the nation, is now owned by a corporation whose only objective is to make money.
The government may be trying to save money by buying new technology from privatized corporations and not developing their own, but who is to say that information will not get leaked or sold to another government agency? With cutbacks on military spending and other sectors, it may seem like a good idea to give the private sector the job of developing our newest technology. However, in the end, this can turn out to be very expensive, and not worth the money or risks.