Skydiver descends 24 miles, breaks sound barrier

[W.G.Ewald]

News from The Associated Press

Brian Utley, a jump observer from the International Federation of Sports Aviation, said preliminary figures show Baumgartner reached a maximum speed of 833.9 mph. That amounts to Mach 1.24, which is faster than the speed of sound. No one has ever reached that speed wearing only a high-tech suit.

Baumgartner says that traveling faster than sound is "hard to describe because you don't feel it." With no reference points, "you don't know how fast you travel," he told reporters.

"Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are," he said.

The altitude he leapt from also marked the highest-ever for a skydiver. Organizers said the descent lasted just over nine minutes, about half of it in free fall. Utley said he traveled 119, 846 feet in free fall.

Three hours earlier, Baumgartner, known as "Fearless Felix," had taken off in a pressurized capsule carried by a 55-story ultra-thin helium balloon. After an at-times tense ascent, which included concerns about how well his facial shield was working, the 43-year-old former military parachutist completed a final safety check-list with mission control.

 

[sob]

This is a fantastic superhuman effort. Travelling at Mach 1.24 wow what an achievement.

 

[sob]

The video of the sky dive, watch the speed ticker on the top of the screen

 

[asianobserve]

Bravery and foolishness do have a very thin boundary...

 

[average american]

This was more then a stunt, it was a very involved, complicated and expensive research project necessary for commerical space projects safety. The US space program has or is evolving from a goverment program into a commerical competive enterprise.

 

[asianobserve]

This was more then a stunt, it was a very involved, complicated and expensive research project necessary for commerical space projects safety. The US space program has or is evolving from a goverment program into a commerical competive enterprise.

If the guy died in the process then it is foolishness. You don't have to send a man to the edge of life just to test a "possible" escape suit. A dummy with sensitive measuring devices dropped from the same altitude could have done the job more efficiently and safely.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

This was more then a stunt, it was a very involved, complicated and expensive research project necessary for commerical space projects safety. The US space program has or is evolving from a goverment program into a commerical competive enterprise.

It was sponsored by Red Bull