Felix Baumgartner, Redbull Stratos, Space Jump
Felix's Record Breaking Jumps and Accomplishments include:
Red Bull Stratos: Shattering World Records
Speaking
of the power of the human mind, all things are possible. You've been
thinking of that novel? Maybe this story would inspire you enough to
take a dive.
Monday October 8th, a record-breaking skydiver, Felix Baumgartner backed
by a team of world-leading scientists, will take a stratospheric
balloon flight to 120,000 feet/36,576 meters above the Earth’s surface
and jump.
The mission is dubbed: “RED BULL STRATOS”
Red Bull Stratos, a mission to the edge of space, will attempt to
transcend human limits that have existed for 50 years. Supported by a
team of experts Felix Baumgartner plans to ascend to 120,000 feet in a
stratospheric balloon and make a freefall jump rushing toward earth at
supersonic speeds before parachuting to the ground. His attempt to dare
atmospheric limits holds the potential to provide valuable medical and
scientific research data for future pioneers.
2012 - (July 25)
Felix Baumgartner successfully jumped from 18 miles /
29 kilometres above the Earth 97,063 feet / 29,584 meters and completed a
free fall at a speed of an airliner - 536 miles or 864 kilometres per
hour (latest figures sanctioned by USPA and NAA). This jump was a
significant achievement in ballooning history but it also proved that
safety and recovery systems are functional in preparation for the
120,000 feet attempt.
2012 - (March 15) First test jump with high altitude balloon and
pressurized capsule: Freefall from 71,581 feet over Roswell, NM. Maximum
speed: 364.4 mph. Felix is the third person to leap from that altitude
and survive.
2007 - BASE jump from world's tallest building, Taipei 101 Tower, Taipei, Taiwan (1,669 feet)
2006 - Felix earned his motorized wings as a helicopter pilot at Twin Air Helicopter School, Van Nuys, USA.
2004 - BASE jump into Marmet Cave in Velebit National Parc, Croatia (623 feet deep)
2004 - World record BASE jump from the highest bridge in the world, Millau Bridge, France (1,125 feet)
2003 - Channel Crossing, Dover, England to Calais, France; first crossing of the English Channel with a carbon wing
2001 - Nominated for a World Sports Award in London, England (category: Extreme Sports)
1999 - World record BASE jump from the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1,479 feet)
1999 - World record lowest BASE jump from Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (95 feet)
1997 - World champion title for BASE jumping in West Virginia, United States.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Salzburg, Austria in 1969, Felix began skydiving at the age of
16 and polished his skills as part of the Austrian military's
demonstration and competition team. In 1988, he began performing
skydiving exhibitions for Red Bull. The company's out-of-the-box
thinking and Felix's adventurous spirit clicked, and they've
collaborated ever since.
By
the 1990s, Felix felt that he'd gone as far as he could with
traditional skydiving, so he extended his canopy skills with BASE
jumping - parachuting from a fixed object or landform. He finds that the
lightning-fast reflexes and precise techniques required by such
low-altitude feats also enhance his high-altitude skydiving technique.
Felix
has made world-record BASE jumps and has been nominated for a World
Sports Award and two categories in the NEA Extreme Sports Awards. He is
also a prominent advocate for the nonprofit Wings for Life Spinal Cord
Research Foundation. And, while he acknowledges that the Red Bull
Stratos mission is a step into the unknown, his determination to reach
the edge of space and break the speed of sound is unshakable. "If Red
Bull Stratos is successful, we can share data that hasn't been available
ever before," Felix states. "I would be proud to be able to make such a
contribution."
THE MISSION TO STRATOSPHERE:
Red Bull Stratos, a mission to the edge of
space, will attempt to transcend human limits that have existed for 50
years. Supported by a team of experts Felix Baumgartner plans to ascend
to 120,000 feet in a stratospheric balloon and make a freefall jump
rushing toward earth at supersonic speeds before parachuting to the
ground. His attempt to dare atmospheric limits holds the potential to
provide valuable medical and scientific research data for future
pioneers.
The Red Bull Stratos team brings together
the world's leading minds in aerospace medicine, engineering, pressure
suit development, capsule creation and balloon fabrication. It includes
retired United States Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, who holds
three of the records Felix will strive to break.
 |
| Joe Kittinger holds the world record for jumping
102,800 ft in 1960 from space |
 |
| Current World Record holder kittinger mentor for RED BULL STRATOS team |
Joe's record jump from 102,800 ft in 1960 was during a time when no
one knew if a human could survive a jump from the edge of space. Joe was
a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and had already taken a balloon to
97,000 feet in Project ManHigh and survived a drogue mishap during a
jump from 76,400 feet in Excelsior I. The Excelsior III mission was his
33rd parachute jump.
Although researching extremes was part of the
program's goals, setting records wasn't the mission's purpose. Joe
ascended in helium balloon launched from the back of a truck. He wore a
pressurized suit on the way up in an open, unpressurized gondola.
Scientific data captured from Joe's jump was shared with U.S. research
personnel for development of the space program. Today Felix and his
specialized team hope to take what was learned from Joe's jumps more
than 50 years ago and press forward to test the edge of the human
envelope.
