Skydiving From Space
Later this year a man is planning on skydiving from space. Felix Baumgartner plans on shattering the current skydiving height record, and possibly ushering in a new era of space-based extreme sports. Beyond pushing the obvious altitude limits, this planned jump will also be the first person to break the sound barrier without the protection of a craft or capsule.
Baumgartner, an Austrian adventure, is no stranger to breaking records. He’s already jumped from the worlds tallest building as well as skydived (with the a customized wing-suit) across the English Channel. The currect altitude record he plans to break has been untouched for the last 52 years. The current record holder is USAF Colonel Jim Kittinger who jumped from a balloon at 102,900 feet on August 16, 1960.
Baumgartner with Project Stratos plans to complete this feat later this summer or early this fall. Red Bull and Baumgartner had planned a similar jump back in 2010, but Red Bull cancelled the plan at the 11th hour when a California promoter, Dan Hogan, sued Red Bull for stealing his proposal. Although the details of the suit are not public, we can only assume that Red Bull’s legal problems are history as they prepare for this jump.
