Daredevil To Attempt Skydiving Record By Jumping From Edge Of Space
Lately there has been a rash of viral videos of people sending cool stuff (like Lego men, or cans of Natty Light) up into space with weather balloons.
Well, an Austrian helicopter pilot and daredevil by the name of Felix Baumgartner decided he’s not going to just sit around and watch inanimate objects get all the glory. So he’s decided he’ll try to break the world record for highest skydive this coming August.
That record, by the way, is 102,800 feet and was set in 1960 by U.S. Air Force colonel Joe Kittinger. Baumgartner hopes to shatter that by jumping from an altitude of 120,000 feet.
So how high is 120,000 feet? Well, if you were to go skydiving, you’d jump from somewhere between 12,500 and 14,500 feet. Commercial airliners, meanwhile, cruise at about 35,000 feet. And those videos made by amateurs sending HD cameras into space, like the ones mentioned above? Those reach somewhere between 80,000 and 90,000 feet—which is as high as commercially available weather balloons can get without popping.
In other words: yeah, 120,00 is pretty much the edge of space.
To survive the stunt, Baumgartner will basically be wearing a specially designed astronaut suit that can withstand temps of -95°F. He’ll also be wearing an oxygen tank with a 20 minutes supply.
Baugartner plans to pull the cord at only 5,000 feet, so the total distance he’ll fall is a ridiculous 23 miles.
They are estimating that Baumgartner will exceed the speed of sound after 35 seconds of falling, and will reach a top speed of 690 mph. (The speed of sound is normally about 768 mph, but at that altitude and temperature, the speed of sound is lower...so, yeah, it’s kind of cheating.)
In all, Baumgartner and his team (which is sponsored by Red Bull) hope to break four different records: Highest-altitude free fall, highest manned balloon flight, longest distance traveled in free fall and fastest free fall.
Have fun, guys.
[via Daily Mail]
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