12/28/2023 0 Comments Fall speed of sound![]() ![]() government was in a hurry to find out how humans could survive beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The Space Race had just begun, and the U.S. When Kittinger, who early in his Air Force career was a test pilot, set the record back in 1960, it was under slightly different circumstances. “Freefall for five and a half minutes-that is the absolute fantasy of every skydiver.” “Felix is a very fortunate man, just like I was,” says Kittinger. He’s the Stratos Capcom, or capsule communicator, and he’ll be the voice Baumgartner hears as he makes his balloon ascent. One of the first people to congratulate him upon his return to Earth was retired Air Force Colonel Joe Kittinger, one of only two other people to have survived a skydive from more than 70,000 feet, and the current record holder (102,800 feet). Since then, Red Bull has helped Baumgartner assemble a world-class team of experts, and has paid for the gear and ground support to get him up to 23 miles and back. An accomplished BASE jumper (someone who parachutes off of Buildings, Antennas, Spans-bridges-and Earth-cliffs), he set his sights in 2005 on breaking the world record for highest skydive. Then, later in the summer, he’ll jump from more than 120,000 feet, setting, he hopes, a number of world records.Īlways ready to sponsor the latest extreme sport, energy-drink maker Red Bull is footing the bill for what began as a personal dream for Baumgartner. Sometime early this summer, Baumgartner will try from 90,000 feet. Back at the airstrip where the balloon had launched, near Roswell, New Mexico, the Red Bull Stratos project team at mission control erupted into cheers. ![]() Facing the cameras mounted on the capsule, he gave a little salute, a bit awkward in his full-pressure spacesuit, and stepped off.Īfter freefalling for three and a half minutes and reaching a top speed of 364 mph, the Austrian skydiver pulled open his chute and glided safely to the ground. He was 71,581 feet -13 and a half miles-above Earth, dangling in a small capsule from a balloon the size of a 16-story building. From where he was standing, he could see all of New Mexico and parts of Texas, Arizona, and Colorado. ON THE MORNING OF March 15, 2012, Felix Baumgartner scooted forward, stood up, and grabbed the handrails on either side of the door he’d just opened. Update: Baumgartner hopes to make his jump on Sunday, October 14.
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