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Balloon blows away free fall record bid
CNN.com ^
| 2008-05-27
| (none)
Posted on 05/27/2008 6:31:49 AM PDT by dayglored
(CNN) -- French skydiver Michel Fournier's bid for a record-breaking parachute jump from Earth's stratosphere was aborted Tuesday when the balloon that was to carry him into the far reaches of the sky slipped away from his flight crew.
The former paratrooper had hoped to set new records for the highest jump, fastest free fall, longest free fall and the highest altitude reached by a man in a balloon. But those hopes drifted away over the plains of Saskatchewan when the balloon escaped.
Still clad in his bright yellow pressure suit, the visibly frustrated Fournier waved away cameras after his ride slipped away shortly after 5 a.m. (7 a.m. ET). There was no immediate word on how the effort was botched, but his flight crew was attempting to recover the balloon, according to his official Web site.
...
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: balloon; fournier; freefall
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OOPS!
1
posted on
05/27/2008 6:31:49 AM PDT
by
dayglored
To: dayglored
I just HATE it when that happens...
2
posted on
05/27/2008 6:32:31 AM PDT
by
dayglored
(Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!)
To: dayglored
Jeez, with this tomfoolery maybe he’d be better to just cancel it.
To: dayglored
He didn’t tie it to his wrist?
4
posted on
05/27/2008 6:33:15 AM PDT
by
neodad
(USS Vincennes (CG 49) "Checkmate Cruiser")
To: MartinStyles
>
Jeez, with this tomfoolery maybe he’d be better to just cancel it. Does sorta make ya wonder...
5
posted on
05/27/2008 6:34:31 AM PDT
by
dayglored
(Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!)
To: dayglored
He’s got a top notch crew there.
6
posted on
05/27/2008 6:35:09 AM PDT
by
caver
(Yes, I did crawl out of a hole in the ground.)
To: neodad
>
He didn’t tie it to his wrist? Heh, guess not.
How the blazes are they gonna "catch" and "retrieve" the sumbitch? It's gotta be up in the stratosphere by now...
7
posted on
05/27/2008 6:35:28 AM PDT
by
dayglored
(Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!)
To: dayglored
The implications are astounding. Seems to me keeping the balloon properly tethered is one of the simplest parts of this operation.
To: MartinStyles
Yeah, but getting up there is always the hardest part.
Coming down is real easy.
9
posted on
05/27/2008 6:36:16 AM PDT
by
Izzy Dunne
(Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
To: dayglored
One Galapagos Tortoise short of a Darwin Award.
10
posted on
05/27/2008 6:36:35 AM PDT
by
Brian S. Fitzgerald
("We're going to drag that ship over the mountain.")
To: dayglored; All
I gotta run to work, I’ll check back in later and see if he recovered it yet...
11
posted on
05/27/2008 6:37:23 AM PDT
by
dayglored
(Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!)
To: dayglored
Taken just before the unfortunate event.
12
posted on
05/27/2008 6:38:31 AM PDT
by
ClearCase_guy
(Et si omnes ego non)
To: dayglored
LOL! God or fate must truly favor the fools of this world.
Personally, I would take that as a note from Fate itself, but he will probably see it as an obstacle to overcome.
13
posted on
05/27/2008 6:39:55 AM PDT
by
bill1952
(I will vote for McCain if he resigns his Senate seat before this election.)
To: dayglored
If Nena had been helping him he would have had 98 back up balloons.
14
posted on
05/27/2008 6:40:44 AM PDT
by
Straight Vermonter
(Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
To: dayglored
Was the balloon red?
Seen over Paris:
Balloon, pictured with its new owner:
15
posted on
05/27/2008 6:47:46 AM PDT
by
C210N
(The television has mounted the most serious assault on Republicanism since Das Kapital.)
To: MartinStyles
Jeez, with this tomfoolery maybe he’d be better to just cancel it. Exactly! If this is the level of professionalism, the guy should be very worried.
To: dayglored
He better quit while he still lives.
17
posted on
05/27/2008 6:50:16 AM PDT
by
AU72
To: neodad
He should have hired Americans to prep and launch the thing.
NASA and its associates have taken great pride in their long string of successes without major mishaps, injuries, or fatalities.
To: Calvin Locke
Unless you count the shuttle program :(
To: dayglored
Maybe the French government was correct in keeping this out of their country. Would be funny to see it get snagged on the Eiffel Tower and haul it up into the Stratosphere.
20
posted on
05/27/2008 6:53:49 AM PDT
by
BallyBill
(Serial Hit-N-Run poster)
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