Posted on 10/14/2012 11:53:51 AM PDT by drewh
Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner has jumped from a balloon 24 miles above Earth in a death-defying free fall that could make him the world's first supersonic skydiver.
After his parachute deployed he landed safely on the New Mexico desert about 10 minutes later.
He set records for the highest free-fall and the fastest free-fall ever.
Baumgartner climbed into the stratosphere in a pressurized capsule carried by a helium balloon Sunday and then jumped into a near vacuum at about 128,000 feet, or more than 24 miles, high.
Coincidentally, Baumgartner's attempted feat also marked the 65th anniversary of U.S. test pilot Chuck Yeager successful attempt to become the first man to officially break the sound barrier aboard an airplane.
At Baumgartner's insistence, some 30 cameras recorded the event. While it had been pegged as a live broadcast, it was actually under a 20-second delay.
Meteorologist: Supersonic skydive "a go" on Sunday Skydiver's supersonic jump on hold due to winds Felix Baumgartner set for jump from edge of space
Shortly after launch, screens at mission control showed the capsule as it rose above 10,000 feet, high above the New Mexico desert as cheers erupted from organizers. Baumgartner could be seen on video checking instruments inside the capsule.
Baumgartner's team included Joe Kittinger, the man who first attempted to break the sound barrier from 19.5 miles in 1960. With Kittinger inside mission control Sunday, the two men could be heard going over technical details as the launch began.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Spaaaaace Jummmmmmp!
Thanks drewh.
2:22 p.m.: According to the indicators provided by the Red Bull Stratos team, Baumgartner surpassed the speed of sound/Mach 1, but we’re still awaiting official confirmation.
The only thing falling faster than Baumgartner is 0zer0’s poll numbers.
24 miiiiiilllles hiiiiiiiiiiigh......
2:19 p.m.: Unofficially Baumgartner has achieved a 4 minute and 22 second freefall, which does not break Ret Col. Kittinger’s record for elapsed time of a free fall, although Baumgartner has broken the record for the highest manned balloon jump. There has been no confirmation yet that Baumgartner achieved Mach
LOL that is exactly what many were saying on twitter..its funny cause it’s true
While most of us are watching a Sunday football game this guy jumps out of a capsule at 23 miles up and breaks 3 or so records! Just a big wow for him!
They showed the airspeed indicator, source unknown, and it cleared around 723 mph.
This was pretty cool.
So what happens to the 3,700 pound balloon and the 3,000 pound capsule?
Do they just freefall back to earth somewhere?
This bogus stunt was obviously filmed from a secure location at area 51. Same place that filmed the fake moon landings.
sarc/off
The capsule landed (w/parachute) about 35 to 45 miles away.
Don’t know about the balloon.
Nice!
The older guy standing there had the old record, if I understood the news crew right.
Capsule came to earth by parachute
Amazing...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.