Roswell: Skydiver Felix Baumgartner's attempt at the highest, fastest free fall in history on Tuesday is more than just a stunt. His planned 23-mile dive from the stratosphere should provide scientists with valuable information for next-generation spacesuits and techniques that could help astronauts survive accidents.
Jumping from more than three times the height of the average cruising altitude for jetliners, Baumgartner hopes to become the first person to break the sound barrier outside of an airplane. His team has calculated that to be 690 mph based on the altitude of his dive.
His medical director Dr Jonathan Clark, a NASA space shuttle crew surgeon who lost his wife, Laurel Clark, in the 2003 Columbia accident, says no one knows what happens to a body when it breaks the sound barrier. "That is really the scientific essence of this mission," said Clark, who is dedicated to improving astronauts' chances of survival in a high-altitude disaster.
Clark told reporters on Monday he expects Baumgartner's pressurized spacesuit to protect him. If all goes well and he survives the death-defying jump, NASA could certify a new generation of spacesuits for protecting astronauts, and provide an escape option, from spacecraft at 120,000 feet....
more
11:58 AM, Oct 09, 2012
On Tuesday evening at 6 pm, 43-year-old Austrian sky diver Felix Baumgartner will do the unthinkable. He will jump from a height of 1,20,000 feet above ground level and become the first skydiver to break the sound barrier in the highest and fastest freefall in history. The event will be telecast live on History TV18 at 6pm. Living on the edge comes quite naturally to Felix. He says, "Since I...
11:35 AM, Oct 09, 2012
Austrian sky diver Felix Baumgartner will on Tuesday attempt to jump from the edge of space itself. Jumping from 1,20,000 feet above the ground level, he will be the first skydiver to break the sound barrier in the highest and fastest freefall in history. Watch it live at 6 pm on Tuesday, only on History TV18. ...
11:18 AM, Oct 09, 2012
