As a rite of passage, the record-breaking Red Bull event built pent-up attention at least twice as we waited for the balloon to launch Baumgartner into space.
Others, including Pirate Party co-chairman Gregory Engels, seem to prefer the idea of a low-Earth-orbit satellite that would be harder to launch but easier to keep airborne than a slowly-deflating balloon.
Pinsent, who was immediately behind the two eight-man university crews on a launch with umpire John Garrett, initially thought he had spotted a balloon.