Indonesian Digital News Archive

As I'm sure everyone knows by now, yesterday Felix Baumgartner was finally able to make his long-planned jump from the edge of space. When he exited his tiny capsule, he was actually above 128,000 feet (39,014 meters) and during free fall he managed to hit speeds of over 725 mph (1166 kph). For those of us who watched it live, it was quite an amazing spectacle, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who had to remind himself to breathe ever once in awhile. In case you missed it however, the YouTube video below will help you catch-up on all the action. It was definitely something to witness, and looks just as great even when it isn't live.

Congratulations to Felix and the entire Red Bull Stratos team on a job well done. Amazing accomplishment!

It is beginning to look like today is the day that Felix Baumgartner will finally get the chance to make his historic jump from 23 miles above the surface of the planet. The winds in Roswell, New Mexico are light this morning and the skies are clear. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 9:00AM local time and it will take Felix approximately three hours to float up to his jumping point in his helium filled balloon. After that, it is five minutes of free fall, during which he'll hit speeds in excess of Mach 1, before he pulls his ripcord and spends 15-20 more minutes drifting back to Earth.

You can watch the entire thing live in the YouTube stream below. It should be quite a show, and after all the delays and setbacks, it is beginning to look like today will be the day.

Good luck Felix! Godspeed!

Due to high winds earlier in the week, skydiver Felix Baumgartner was forced to postpone his record setting jump on both Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday his mission control were in standby while they evaluated the weather, but the winds were still a bit too dangerous for liftoff. While examining the forecast they came to the conclusion that the next few days would be a challenge so they have now tentatively scheduled the next attempt for Sunday, October 14.

Baumgartner is attempting to set a new record for the highest skydive in history. The plan is for him to use a small capsule attached to a helium balloon to carry him up to 120,000 feet (36,576 meters), where he'll pop open the door and leap out into the very thin atmosphere. At that altitude he'll be right on the edge of space and the thin air will provide very little resistance. It is believed that he'll quickly accelerate past 690 mph (1110 km/h), breaking the sound barrier in the process. After free falling for about five minutes, he'll then pull his ripcord, and in theory make a long slow descent back to Earth.

The reason the weather needs to be just perfect for this flight is that the helium balloon that carries him aloft is very delicate and can be easily damaged by winds. In order to ensure Baumgartner's safety on the way up, his support crew is not taking any chance. The balloon has preformed flawlessly in two test runs at lower, but still substantial, altitudes but now that it is time for the big event, they aren't going to rush into anything. Considering Felix has waited years for this jump, and survived all kinds of obstacles including legal challenges, I'm sure he can manage to wait a few more days.

The jump, when it does eventually happen, will be broadcast live on the Internet. Stay tuned for updates over the weekend on RedBullStratos.com for what should be a pretty spectacular event to witness. In the meantime, check out the video from one of his test jumps below.

Update: Bumping this to the top of the articles list as it happens live.

Update 2: And now the attempt has been scrubbed for the day. Felix was ready to go, but winds picked up at the last minute and mission control decided to pull the plug. They'll attempt to give it a go tomorrow, although weather forecasts aren't promising for then either. It may be a few days before Felix can make another attempt.

Austrian sky diver Felix Baumgartner is hoping to make his historic jump this morning, provided the weather cooperates. You may recall that Baumgartner is attempting to make the highest and fastest dive in history when he leaps from a small capsule, carried aloft by a helium filled balloon, from 23 miles above the surface of the planet. That's pretty much right on the edge of space and three times higher than the altitude that commercial jets fly. On the descent, Felix will free fall for as much as five minutes and is expected to reach speeds in excess of 690 mph (1110 km/h), becoming the first person to break the sound barrier without a vehicle. After that, he'll pull his ripcord and slowly drift back to Earth, taking somewhere between 15-20 minutes to complete the entire dive.

The jump was scheduled to take place yesterday but cold weather moved into the New Mexico launch site, delaying lift off until today. As I write this, they are in yet another weather delay, but Felix and his team are hoping that things will warm up later this morning and they'll be able to get underway. You can watch the entire event live in the streaming YouTube video below. It should be an amazing site to see when it actually does happen.

Austrian BASE jumper Felix Baumgartner has successfully completed his second test-jump as he prepares for an attempt at the world record for the highest skydive. Yesterday Felix donned his specially designed pressure suit, boarded a balloon filled with helium and proceed to climb to an altitude of 96,640 feet (29,455 meters). At that point, he opened his tiny capsule, stepped out into the void and let gravity take its effect.

What followed was a 3 minute, 48 second freefall during which Baumgartner reached speeds in excess of 536mph/863kph. It took him 10 minutes, 36 seconds to complete the entire jump, which was all just a dress rehearsal for the big event which could come this fall. At that time, Felix will attempt to jump from 120,000 feet (36,576 meters).

The video below gives us a good glimpse at the balloon, Felix's suit and the huge effort that is going into this project. The images from the edge of space aren't bad either.

This video is a bit on the scary side. It features an 80-year old woman named Lavern who decided she wanted to skydiving to celebrate her milestone birthday. But once she's up in the plane and has to actually jump out the door, she begins to have second thoughts. As she struggles to stay on the plane, her tandem partner manages to get her out the door, but in the process poor Laverne slips out of the harness. The result is one terrifying jump that left me holding my breath. Crazy!