I have blogged about the test jump before, but if you want to watch something truly spectacular, tune into the Red Bull Stratos website to see the launch of the Red Bull Stratos capsule that will send the crazy Felix Baumgartner 120,000 feet into the Stratosphere where he will make a free-fall jump rushing toward earth at supersonic speeds before parachuting to the ground. His attempt to dare atmospheric limits holds the potential to provide valuable medical & scientific research data for future pioneers.
A retired United States Air Force Colonel, Joseph Kittinger, holds three of the records Felix will strive to break. Joe's record jump from 102,800 ft in 1960 was during a time when no one knew if a human could survive a jump from the edge of space. Joe was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force & had already taken a balloon to 97,000 feet in Project ManHigh & survived a drogue mishap during a jump from 76,400 feet in Excelsior I. The Excelsior III mission was his 33rd parachute jump.
Although researching extremes was part of the program's goals, setting records wasn't the mission's purpose. Joe ascended in helium balloon launched from the back of a truck. He wore a pressurized suit on the way up in an open, unpressurized gondola. Scientific data captured from Joe's jump was shared with U.S. research personnel for development of the space program. Today Felix & his specialized team hope to take what was learned from Joe's jumps more than 50 years ago & press forward to test the edge of the human envelope.
Can't wait, gonna be EPIC!!!
When is this going to happen and how and where can we watch this?
ReplyDeleteThere is not a committed day or time as yet. They are monitoring the weather very closely, keep an eye on their website, they constantly have updates - http://www.redbullstratos.com/ or follow them on Twitter - @redbullstratos
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