Mar 18, 2010: Freefall... 23 miles

[xoxoxoBruce]

That's right, 23 miles, over 120,000 ft, is what Felix Baumgartner is planning to do, with the help of Red Bull, Joe Kittinger (the current record holder), and a bunch of veteran NASA/USAF/Aerospace people.

But now Fearless Felix, as his fans call him, has something more difficult on the agenda: jumping from a helium balloon in the stratosphere at least 120,000 feet above Earth. Within about half a minute, he figures, he would be going 690 miles per hour and become the first skydiver to break the speed of sound. After a free fall lasting five and a half minutes, his parachute would open and land him about 23 miles below the balloon.

This is very risky business, and takes more than big balls.

One of the chief concerns has been to avoid the problem that almost killed Mr. Kittinger during Project Excelsior. He was supposed to be stabilized during his fall by a small drogue parachute, but on one training jump in 1959 it did not open because the cord got tangled around his neck. As a result, Mr. Kittinger’s body went into a spin that reached 120 revolutions per minute as he plummeted more than 60,000 feet. He blacked out and regained consciousness only after his reserve parachute opened automatically about a mile above the ground.

Gives, going out for a spin, a whole new context.
I wish him well.

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