Skydiver Felix Baumgartner set to break sound barrier

[Jazzy]

The Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner will attempt to become the first human to break the sound barrier unaided by a vehicle.



He is going to jump out of a balloon at more than 120,000ft (36.5km) above Roswell, New Mexico.



In the near vacuum at that altitude, he should accelerate beyond about 690mph (1,110km/h) within 40 seconds.



If all goes well, he will open a parachute near the ground to land softly in the desert, 10 minutes later.



The 43-year-old adventurer - famous for jumping off skyscrapers - is under no illusions about the dangers he faces.



Where he is going, the air pressure is less than 2% of what it is at sea level, and it is impossible to breathe without an oxygen supply.



Others who have tried to break the existing records for the highest, fastest and longest freefalls have lost their lives in the process.



If something goes wrong, the only thing that might help you is God, says Baumgartner.



Because if you run out of luck, if you run out of skills, there is nothing left and you have to really hope he is not going to let you down.



Lift-off from Roswell airport will occur no earlier than 0730 local time (1330 GMT; 1430BST).

Full article including pictures, diagrams and video

 

[DrLeftover]

The weather hold has been lifted and takeoff is being rescheduled.



Live updates with photos and video:



http://gizmodo.com/5950136/watch-the-first-human-supersonic-space-jump-updating-live?post=53351226

 

[DrLeftover]

12:49PM EDT All systems nominal. 10 minutes till the official broadcast starts. 25 minutes till launch!

 

[DrLeftover]

1:25PM Felix is strapped in the capsule now. His words to ground control:

I am strapped into the capsule, and I am ready to go.​

 

[DrLeftover]

2:04PM Once again, the launch has been aborted because of heavy winds, which started just as they were ready to roll. The problem with heavy winds at launch is that they can make the capsule bounce around. The risks of this happening are obvious for both the capsule and its pilot.

 

[Jazzy]

I think this is an omen and he should just stop. I have a very bad feeling he's not going to survive this.

 

[Evil Eye]

Still nothing it seems.



Best of luck to him in any case.

 

[Jazzy]

2:28PM[font=Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif] Just added a video of the abort. Closing the live coverage until the next launch window. Thank you all for reading and watching, and godspeed Felix! Next time it will be the good one.

 

[DrLeftover]

He's trying again.



http://www.redbullstratos.com/live/

 

[DrLeftover]

He is at altitude, the jump is go.

 

[Evil Eye]

The guy is sweating already.

 

[DrLeftover]

He didn't break all of the records he was going after.



So they'll have to do it again.

 

[Raven]

Amazing jump. I seriously felt sick when he moved onto the platform.

 

[Evil Eye]

Which did he miss?





I saw a brilliant tweet in French come by while watching: It takes 2h30m to ascend and 5m to descend, it's like Disneyland.

 

[Raven]

The length of the free fall I think. Just 15 seconds off.

 

[Evil Eye]

Pictures, pictures for everyone: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/09/us/gallery/red-bull-stratos/

 

[DrLeftover]

And now, in Lego:



with video





http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Historic_skydive_recreated_in_Lego

 

[Evil Eye]

Hehe, very nice.