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Edge of Space Skydiving: Test Jump Completed (More Images Added)

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
March 16, 2012
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Felix Baumgartner Completes Test Flight Ahead of Freefall Record Attempt From The Edge of Space (More Images Added)
“Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian BASE jumper aiming to break the world freefall record by jumping from 120,000ft above the earth’s surface, moved a step closer to achieving his dream today after the successful completion of a test flight from 71,581 ft. (21,818 metres). Still-to-be-confirmed figures indicate that at 09:40am MT after an ascent lasting about 1 hour and 30 minutes at a rate reaching speeds of 1,200 ft. per minute, the Red Bull Stratos capsule and a modified version of the balloon reached its top manned altitude of 71,581 ft. above the earth’s surface.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

7 responses to “Edge of Space Skydiving: Test Jump Completed (More Images Added)”

  1. Gordon Smithers says:
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    Excuse my French, but this is EFFING. RAD!  Way to go, Felix!

    • RogerStrong says:
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      Agreed.

      But just to nitpick:  While Gagarin may have jumped from Vostok 1 at a lower altitude he did it 50 years earlier, from a spacecraft in free-fall, that was a moment earlier pulling 8 g during a fiery reentry from orbit.  That’s a tad more rad.

  2. hikingmike says:
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    Current Record: Joseph Kittinger
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wik

    That photo taken from the balloon of him jumping out is friggin priceless.

    “On August 16, 1960, he made the final jump from the Excelsior III at 102,800 feet (31,300 m). Towing a small drogue parachute for initial stabilization, he fell for four minutes and 36 seconds, reaching a maximum speed of 614 miles per hour (988 km/h) before opening his parachute at 18,000 feet (5,500 m). Pressurization for his right glove malfunctioned during the ascent, and his right hand swelled up to twice its normal size. He set historical numbers for highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump, longest drogue-fall (four minutes), and fastest speed by a human being through the atmosphere. These are still current USAF records, but were not submitted for aerospace world records to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).”

  3. Stephen_Holmes says:
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    Gagarin didn’t really jump he was fired out of the capsule by ejector seat but it was denied by Soviet Union in 1961 as it would denied Gagarin as first manned spaceflight record. For the record to count Gagarin had to be inside his capsule at landing and this the Soviets claimed even though as it turned out he wasn’t

    • RogerStrong says:
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      Gagarin is still on record as the first manned spaceflight.  This merely tells us that the definition at the time wasn’t up to par.

      It’s a bit like denying that someone was in space, because they came back from ISS on a different Soyuz than they went up in.  It ignores that fact that they were indeed in space.

      Also, being fired out of the capsule by ejector seat isn’t any less rad than jumping out.

  4. Antilope7724 says:
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    So this must be the “…one giant leap for mankind.” 😉