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His blood could boil. His lungs could overinflate. The vessels in his brain could burst. His eyes could hemorrhage.

And, yes, he could break his neck while jumping from a mind-boggling altitude of 23 miles (37 kilometers).

But the risk of a gruesome death has never stopped "Fearless Felix" Baumgartner in all his years of skydiving and skyscraper leaping, and it's not about to now.

Next Monday over New Mexico, he will attempt the highest, fastest free fall in history and try to become the first skydiver to break the sound barrier.

"So many unknowns," Baumgartner says, "but we have solutions to survive."

The 43-year-old former military parachutist from Austria is hoping to reach 690 mph (1,110 kph), or Mach 1, after leaping from his balloon-hoisted capsule over the desert near Roswell.

He will have only a pressurized suit and helmet for protection as he tries to go supersonic 65 years after Chuck Yeager, flying an experimental rocket plane, became the first human to go faster than the speed of sound.

Doctors, engineers and others on Baumgartner's Red Bull-sponsored team have spent as much as five years studying the risks and believe they have done everything possible to bring him back alive. He has tested out his suit and capsule in two dress rehearsals, jumping from 15 miles (24 kilometers) in March and 18 miles (29 kilometers) in July.

Baumgartner will be more than three times higher than the cruising altitude of jetliners when he hops, bunny-style, out of the capsule and into a near-vacuum where there is barely any oxygen and less than 1 percent of the air pressure on Earth.

If all goes well, he will reach the speed of sound in about half a minute at an altitude of around 100,000 feet (30,480 meters). Then he will start to slow as the atmosphere gets denser, and after five minutes of free fall, he will pull his main parachute. The entire descent should last 15 to 20 minutes.

He will be rigged with cameras that will provide a live broadcast of the jump via the Internet, meaning countless viewers could end up witnessing a horrific accident.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/ ... z285EzQq4n" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

grizzaholic wrote:OK AZ. what is the bet he dies. We all know your bet that the girl who tried to sail around the world would die...she didn't.

Name your stakes...and elk jerky cannot be one.

Doctors, engineers and others on Baumgartner's Red Bull-sponsored team have spent as much as five years studying the risks and believe they have done everything possible to bring him back alive. He has tested out his suit and capsule in two dress rehearsals, jumping from 15 miles (24 kilometers) in March and 18 miles (29 kilometers) in July.

AZGrizFan wrote:

grizzaholic wrote:OK AZ. what is the bet he dies. We all know your bet that the girl who tried to sail around the world would die...she didn't.

Name your stakes...and elk jerky cannot be one.

Doctors, engineers and others on Baumgartner's Red Bull-sponsored team have spent as much as five years studying the risks and believe they have done everything possible to bring him back alive. He has tested out his suit and capsule in two dress rehearsals, jumping from 15 miles (24 kilometers) in March and 18 miles (29 kilometers) in July.

He's living. What's another five miles among friends?

Grizalltheway wrote:Jump is on hold until at least 11:30 MDT.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/new ... mpt-45273/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

andy7171 wrote:

Grizalltheway wrote:Jump is on hold until at least 11:30 MDT.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/new ... mpt-45273/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What the fuck is MDT?

andy7171 wrote:

Grizalltheway wrote:Jump is on hold until at least 11:30 MDT.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/new ... mpt-45273/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What the fuck is MDT?

andy7171 wrote:

Grizalltheway wrote:Jump is on hold until at least 11:30 MDT.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/new ... mpt-45273/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What the fuck is MDT?

89Hen wrote:I thougth we were running out of helium.

89Hen wrote:I thougth we were running out of helium.

andy7171 wrote:What if the balloon pops, will it cause more global warming?

dbackjon wrote:We are - helium will soon be a rare commodity (10-20 years)

It is absolutely true that prices are currently tight. That parts of the current production system are closed down and thus supplies are lower than usual. However, this is not the same as stating that we’re actually running out of the stuff. The source for the real numbers is, for an element, always the US Geological Survey. Their helium note tells us that current global consumption is around 180 million cubic metres a year. There’s something like 50 billion cubic metres lying around out there. That’s a near 300 year supply at current usage rates.

Another way of putting this is that sure, party balloons are a bit more expensive right now but there’s no worry over whether our great great grandchildren will still be able to have them.

Grizalltheway wrote:How in the actual fuck could we run out of the second most abundant element in the universe?

Grizalltheway wrote:Jump is on hold until at least 11:30 MDT.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/new ... mpt-45273/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Grizalltheway wrote:How in the actual fuck could we run out of the second most abundant element in the universe?

andy7171 wrote:So I see the balloon went up, when does he jump? 11:30MDT is what 1:30pm for the rest of the world?

dbackjon wrote:The US used to have a strategic stockpile of helium, but in 1996, Congress voted to get rid of the stockpile by 2014, selling it at bargin rates.