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Registered: August 2004
Prep photos of Felix Baumgartner's 'Jump from the Edge of Space'
Tue, 09 October 2012 21:39
Some recent photos of Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner wearing his Zenith Stratos Striking 10th as he preps for a jump to break Joe Kittinger's 52 year-old record for the highest free-fall in history.
In reading over the press materials, it became apparent that Joe Kittinger's jump was no small feat. At the time, Kittinger was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He wore a pressurized suit and ascended in an open, unpressurized gondola fitted with a helium balloon launched from the back of a pickup truck. Scientific data from Kittinger's jump helped develop the U.S. space program.
Felix Baumgartner trained four years for this historic jump. Throughout the training, Joe Kittinger attended several practices to support his friend.
Assisted by his crew during a 7-hour pre-launch procedure, Baumgartner is set to travel to 120,000 ft (almost 36km) above the earth's surface in a specially crafted stratospheric balloon. After his 2.5 hour ascent, Baumgartner will run through a final check-list before stepping onto off the edge of the capsule and free-falling for over 5-minutes towards Earth. The potential benchmarks of this jump:
Reaching supersonic speed in freefall: First person to achieve the speed of sound (Mach 1) in freefall without mechanical assistance. Speed estimated to be about 690 miles per hour at point of breaking sound barrier; acceleration could continue to more than Mach 1.1 (previous record: 614 miles per hour, Mach 0.9).
Freefall from highest altitude: Expected jump from approximately 120,000 feet (previous record: 102,800 feet).
Longest freefall time: Expected freefall duration of about 5 minutes, 35 seconds (previous record: 4 minutes, 36 seconds).
Highest manned balloon flight: Expected float altitude of approximately 120,000 feet (previous record: 113,740 feet).
Felix Baumgartner reacts to his jump being aborted due to high winds in Roswell, New Mexico (9 October 2012)
Pre-launch in Roswell, New Mexico (9 October 2012)
Training in Roswell, New Mexico (7 October 2012)
Felix practicing a high altitude test jump in Taft, California (21 June 2012)
USAF Colonel Joe Kittinger (Ret.) attends Felix's birthday party in Salzburg, Austria (20 April 2012)
Jean-Frederic Dufour of Zenith & USAF Colonel Joe Kittinger (Ret.) attend Felix's birthday party (20 April 2012)
Felix during egress training in Lancaster, California (23 February 2012)
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