Baumgartner Completes 13.5-Mile Free-Fall Jump, Aims For Record 155
An anonymous reader writes "On Thursday Felix Baumgartner climbed into a capsule carried by a balloon, floated up to 71,500 feet, and jumped out. He free-fell through the atmosphere for almost four minutes, hitting an estimated top speed of 364 mph. 'I wanted to open the parachute after descending for a while but I noticed that I was still at an altitude of 50,000ft,' he said. After finally deploying his chute, he fell for a bit over four more minutes, before successfully touching down in the New Mexico Desert. This was a test to prepare him for a jump of 120,000 feet later this summer, during which Baumgartner will break the record for highest free-fall jump — and the sound barrier. '... a 36-pound spacesuit is all that separates Baumgartner from a hostile world that would boil the blood in his body. Baumgartner will wear a chest pack crammed with data-hungry instruments to help ground controllers monitor the attempt — and log scientific data. Some will keep tabs on his heart rate and oxygen intake to see how a body in a spacesuit reacts to a boundary no one has broken (and lived to tell the tale): the speed of sound.'"
Re:So, first he breaks the height record... (Score:5, Funny)
The whole attempt will be a win, win situation for him - he's guaranteed to make it into the Guinness Book.
After the attempt, he'll either he'll have the record for the highest freefall jump, or he'll have the record for the world's largest pizza.
Re:So, first he breaks the height record... (Score:5, Funny)
Sorry to hear you got bored halfway, bro.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Funny)
So basically hipsters can jump from 100,000+ feet safely?
Re:Wow (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wow (Score:4, Funny)
Only if they push a lawyer out in front of them to act as a cushion
Re:So, first he breaks the height record... (Score:5, Funny)
My inner relativist tells me that he's not moving at all, he's merely pulling the earth toward him.
Re:Wow (Score:4, Funny)
Hipsters won't notice...