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An Austrian daredevil leapt into the stratosphere
from a balloon hovering near the edge of space 38 kilometres above
Earth, breaking as many as three world records including the highest
skydive ever, project sponsors said.
Cheers broke out as Felix Baumgartner, 43, jumped from a skateboard
sized shelf outside the 3.3-by-2.4 metre fiberglass and acrylic capsule
that was carried as high as 128,000 feet by an enormous balloon.
"We love you Felix!" screamed the crowd as he plunged through the
stratosphere.
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His body pierced the atmosphere at speeds topping 700 miles per hour,
appearing to achieve another of his goals: to become the first skydiver
to break the speed of sound, according to the project website.
He sped toward Earth on the 65th anniversary of legendary American pilot
Chuck Yeager's flight shattering the sound barrier on October 14, 1947.
"Looks like he probably broke Mach," project commentator Bob Hager said,
referring to Mach 1, more than 690 miles per hour, used to measure the
speed of sound.
Baumgartner broke records for the highest altitude manned balloon flight
and the highest altitude skydive before landing safely on the ground and
raising his arms in a victory salute about 10 minutes after he stepped
into the air.
As his teary-eyed mother, father and girlfriend watched on monitors
miles below, Baumgartner prepared to jump from the pressurised capsule
by going through a checklist of 40 items with project adviser Joe
Kittinger, holder of a 30 km altitude parachute jump record that
Baumgartner smashed.
Earlier in the flight, he expressed concern that his astronaut-like
helmet was not heating properly.
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"This is very serious, Joe," said Baumgartner as the capsule, designed
to remain at 55 degrees Fahrenheit ascended in skies where temperatures
were expected to plunge below -91.8 F (-67.8 C), according to the
project's website.
"Sometimes it's getting foggy when I exhale. ... I do not feel heat."
Baumgartner's ascent into the stratosphere took about two-and-a-half
hours.
The 850,000-cubic-metre plastic balloon, is about one-tenth the
thickness of a Ziploc bag, or roughly as thin as a dry cleaner bag.
'Inspire the next generation'
Baumgartner said he now wants to rescue people and inspire the next
generation.
He said he has reached his limit with the record-breaking leap from the
edge of the atmosphere and now aims to become a good helicopter pilot
and fight fires.
"I want to inspire the next generation," he said.
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"I would love in four years to be sitting in the same spot as Joe
Kittinger and there's a young guy asking for advice because he wants to
break my record."
Kiwi high altitude sportsmen in awe
The small group of people in New Zealand who engage in such extreme
sports are simply in awe of Baumgartner's feat.
In his newly adopted Canterbury, South African Gary Bayer, a formation
flying multiple world champion and one of international skydiving's most
experienced coaches, said Baumgartner's achievement was "absolutely
fantastic".
"Let's just call it skydiving's first steps on the moon," Bayer told TV
ONE's Close Up.
In Auckland, Air Force squadron leader Seven Smith, New Zealand's
unofficial high altitude record holder, jumped from 25,000 feet as part
of the RNZAF's parachute testing programme in the 1980s
"That's impressive, 120,000 feet, that's a long way up," he told Close
Up.
"One of the biggest risks he took was if he had a premature parachute
opening where it had opened by accident at attitude, the speeds he was
travelling at would probably have destroyed the parachute," Smith said.
Bayer said he would do a jump like Baumgartner's if he could.
"If I had the backing he had, the team he had, I speak for quite a few
jumpers out there, they would too, taking nothing away from what he did.
That took courage." |