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.
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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.
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This is very risky business, and takes more than big balls.
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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.
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Gives, going out for a spin, a whole new context.
I wish him well.
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