Today in 1960, Joseph Kittinger made a jump from the balloon Excelsior III. Nothing special, I hear you say. Well, the balloon was at an altitude of 31,330 meters, and Kittinger free-fell for 4 minutes and 36 seconds, achieving a maximum speed of 1,149 kph (that’s over 700 mph). He set records for highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump, and fastest speed by a man through the atmosphere. This article notes that a French jumper aims to beat the record by leaping from 38 kilometers and reaching 1,790 kph.
Some video of Kittinger's jump below the fold.
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Another list for your reading, gift giving and collection development pleasure.
A new video from the Red Bull Stratos Jump guys came out. Here it is:
Footage from Kittinger's descent was used in a fantastic Boards of Canada video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2zKARkpDW4
I wonder if any denialists have latched onto that event and claim that it didn't happen.
After my first and only standard altitude skydive, was sore, knackered and had temporary hearing loss. I can't imagine what over four minutes of freefall would do to the human body (not to mention the frigid temperature). It must have taken an incredible amount of fortitude to take that leap.
hi
looking at the photo the the skydiving is looking so scary