Felix Baumgartner is adventurous and very courageous. He must also be quite wealthy or have some corporate backing of some kind, maybe Red Bull as his mission is called Red Bull Stratos. He plans to break the sound barrier in free fall during his record breaking jump, pretty amazing.
Record-Seeking Skydiver Makes 13-Mile Test Jump
Skydiving daredevil Felix Baumgartner is more than halfway toward his goal of setting a world record for the highest jump.
Baumgartner lifted off Thursday for a test jump from Roswell, N.M., aboard a 100-foot helium balloon. He rode inside a pressurized capsule to 71,581 feet — 13.6 miles — and then jumped. He parachuted to a safe landing, according to project spokeswoman Trish Medalen.
He's aiming for nearly 23 miles this summer. The record is 19.5 miles.
"The view is amazing, way better than I thought," Baumgartner said after the practice jump, in remarks provided by his representatives.
Thursday's rehearsal was a test of his capsule, full-pressure suit, parachutes and other systems. A mini Mission Control — fashioned after NASA's — monitored his flight.
Baumgartner reached speeds of up to 364.4 mph Thursday and was in free fall for three minutes and 43 seconds, before pulling his parachute cords, Medalen said. The entire jump lasted eight minutes and eight seconds. She stressed that the numbers are still unofficial.
full article: http://news.yahoo.com/record-seeking-skydiver-makes-13-mile-test-jump-233204849.html
Record-Seeking Skydiver Makes 13-Mile Test Jump
Skydiving daredevil Felix Baumgartner is more than halfway toward his goal of setting a world record for the highest jump.
Baumgartner lifted off Thursday for a test jump from Roswell, N.M., aboard a 100-foot helium balloon. He rode inside a pressurized capsule to 71,581 feet — 13.6 miles — and then jumped. He parachuted to a safe landing, according to project spokeswoman Trish Medalen.
He's aiming for nearly 23 miles this summer. The record is 19.5 miles.
"The view is amazing, way better than I thought," Baumgartner said after the practice jump, in remarks provided by his representatives.
Thursday's rehearsal was a test of his capsule, full-pressure suit, parachutes and other systems. A mini Mission Control — fashioned after NASA's — monitored his flight.
Baumgartner reached speeds of up to 364.4 mph Thursday and was in free fall for three minutes and 43 seconds, before pulling his parachute cords, Medalen said. The entire jump lasted eight minutes and eight seconds. She stressed that the numbers are still unofficial.
full article: http://news.yahoo.com/record-seeking-skydiver-makes-13-mile-test-jump-233204849.html
