This past weekend the news was full of space-related events. I must admit, over the years I have had a conflicted view of the various space programs, NASA in particular, and the obsession with all things extra-terristrial. The social activist in me has thought that all that money would be best spent on the ground where it can help people who need it now. But the “gee Mr. Wizard” nerd in me has been just as fascinated by the technology and beauty of our struggle to understand, and experience, the universe beyond ourselves.

This weekend, it has all come full circle, it seems. First, the streets of Los Angeles had the space-shattering opportunity to welcome the Space Shuttle Endeavor on its final trip to retirement. Endeavour was originally built to replace the shuttle Challenger, which exploded in 1986, killing all of its crew members. It then flew from 1992 to 2011 until it was taken out of service at the end of the shuttle program. Now it sits in its new home, a purpose-built hangar in the California Science Center. As you can imagine, the cost of the endeavor to drive the shuttle through the LA streets was astronomical, but the people of the city turned out in the thousands to watch it, and from all the available footage it seems like it must have been an amazing thing to witness.

courtesy abcnews.go.com

So, the shuttle has landed, and so has Felix Baumgartner. Felix is an Austrian daredevil who has worked with his team for the past seven years to plan and execute the highest sky dive ever recorded. His team included the 80+-year old previous record holder, Col. Joe Kittinger, and was sponsored by (of course) Red Bull.  Into the sunny skies over the New Mexican desert,  Felix ascended 128,097 feet to the edge of space in a special pressurized capsule suspended from a giant helium balloon. He then jumped out, and about ten minutes later, landed on his feet. He had broken two world records, no body parts and traveled at a speed up to  725 mph. As we used to say on sports broadcasts, let’s go to the videotape (thanks to LiveShowNews and Youtube):

For me, both events are equally marvellous, and equally insane. And, by the way, Baumgartner claims he will now retire, too.