(Image Source: Red Bull)
BY GILLIAN STEDMAN
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner wants to beat the speed of sound this summer. And his plan is to do it while skydiving from space at more than 1,000 feet per second.
“The plan is simple he goes up 36 kilometers in this capsule underneath a balloon, then he jumps.”
Following years of training Baumgartner announced Monday he will be making the big jump over Roswell, New Mexico sometime this summer.
“This is what more than 20 miles up looks like over southern New Mexico – video from a recent space port America rocket flight.”
Red Bull was sponsoring Baumgartner when he was scheduled to make the same jump about two years ago. But the plan was put on hold due to a lawsuit filed by the event’s promoter Daniel Hogan.
MSNBC reports…
Hogan said he owned “certain rights to the project.” But an out-of-court settlement was made putting the mission back on track.
Team medical director, Dr. Jonathan Clark says “Red Bull Stratos is testing new equipment and developing the procedures for inhabiting such high altitudes as well as enduring such extreme acceleration… The aim is to improve the safety for space professionals as well as potential space tourists.” (SlashGear)
But it’s not all fun and games. There’s a reason why such a jump hasn’t been attempted in more than 50 years.
The BBC relives this incredible moment in history…
“Captain Joseph Kittinger jumps from a balloon to test a new parachute system for the U.S. Air Force. There was a leak in his right glove and he temporarily lost the use of his hand.”
The blog New Launches expresses its concerns over this upcoming mission.
“Numerous lives have been lost in this attempt to jump off a height as such, and this incredible feat that Baumgartner will soon perform requires all the goodwill and prayers one can fling at him.”
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