The Cameras Behind the Red Bull Stratos Jump

Did you catch the live feed of the Red Bull Stratus jump a few days ago? A brave man named Felix took a weather balloon up to space and then jumped back down to earth. He had 35 cameras with him on his adventure and this Red Bull video gives us a look at them. 

One of the most exhilarating things about Baumgartner’s space jump was the ability to see so many different angles of what was going on, both as photos and video. To ensure that the cameras would work, the Red Bull Stratos team turned to Flightline Films, which has been providing aerial photography services since 1984. The company’s had extensive work in the upper atmosphere, including work with Virgin Galactic to photograph its spacecraft.

All of the cameras had to be tested in extreme cold and heat, as well as near-vacuum conditions. Specialized filters were applied to compensate for the intense sunlight at the edge of space. Some of the cameras had to be placed in pressurized housings filled with nitrogen gas to ensure they’d continue to operate.

In addition to the 9 cameras on Felix’s person and capsule, some of the images of the flight were also captured by helicopter. Airborne Images was in charge of the chopper, which was equipped with a gyroscopically stabilized HD camera that was manufactured by Cineflex.

Stuff like this is always fascinating to me because of the sheer amount of planning required. Check out the video below:

And here is some of the final results, the jump from Felix's point of view: