The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Archive

Felix Baumgartner successfully completes record-breaking jump from edge of space

Felix Baumgartner successfully completes record-breaking jump from edge of space
14 October 2012
Aimee Latimer
Avatar
Aimee Latimer
14 October 2012

Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner completed a potentially record-breaking 24 mile skydive on Sunday 14th October.

The 43-year-old undertook the jump, known as the Stratos Mission to the Edge of Space, in Roswell, New Mexico.

The jump, which took five years of planning, is yet to be confirmed as official by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). However, if the new marks set by Baumgartner are approved, he shall have broken world records that have stood for 50 years and become the first human to break the sound barrier without the protection of a vehicle.

Ideal conditions were essential for the crew to launch the 1,682kg balloon Baumgartner jumped from because of the delicate eight-hour process of laying the balloon out and pumping it with the helium to raise it into the stratosphere.

The 55 storey-high balloon is the largest balloon ever launched with humans aboard. At jump altitude the balloon’s height reached 102 metres with a diameter of 129 metres.

The balloon is an identical copy of one destroyed on an aborted launch attempt for the same record by Baumgartner on 9th October. Despite technical glitches and safety fears, Baumgartner completed the dangerous jump the second time by drawing on his skydiving experience to help him navigate falling at a top speed of 706mph for a period of 10 minutes.

Performed in alliance with Red Bull, it is hoped scientific findings from the jump will help the future engineering of emergency evacuation equipment for spacecrafts that pass through the stratosphere.

Aimee Latimer

 

Related Items

More in Archive

Achieve timeless elegance this S/S 2014 with S.I.L.K.

Ellie Owen
Read More

Bespoke jewellery by Charlotte Tamar

Niten Thakor
Read More

Enjoy designer luxury with Alexis Smith Lingerie’s A/W 2013 collection

Ellie Owen
Read More

Embrace vibrancy and colour with PPQ this winter

Ellie Owen
Read More

Kenzo Metallics adds the sparkle to you Christmas wardrobe

Niten Thakor
Read More

A Christmas alternative: Cranberry and Orange Jeweled Nut Bake

Bethany Stone
Read More

An Austique shopping guide: your one-stop shop for last minute gifts

Christianna Pugliese
Read More

A comforting twist to designer heels

Michelle McGill
Read More

Iain Duncan Smith condemned for refusing to meet with Trussell Trust

Abbie Cavendish
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Cruise – Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • London’s Michelin-starred restaurants open al fresco right now – and all those re-opening in May
    Food & Drinks
  • Birdy at Wilton’s Music Hall Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Portal
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • A Splinter of Ice at Cheltenham Everyman Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Motherhood Project: An interview with creator and curator Katherine Kotz
    Theatre
  • The Mitchells vs the Machines
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Shadow and Bone
    ★★★★★
    netflix
  • Arlo the Alligator Boy
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Digital signage: A new trend in communication
    Tech & Sport
  • Arlo the Alligator Boy
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • London’s Michelin-starred restaurants open al fresco right now – and all those re-opening in May
    Food & Drinks
  • Live from the Barbican: Moses Boyd
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Secret Connection – Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • London Grammar – Californian Soil
    ★★★★★
    Album review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

The new breed of English footballer
Opinion: Welfare cuts – a necessary step?