Live Stream of Attempt to Break Sound Barrier Via Space-Dive
UPDATE: BAUMGARTNER, IN HIS SECOND ATTEMPT, HAS SAFELY LANDED, AFTER JUMPING FROM 128,000 FEET (24 MILES). BAUGMARTNER BROKE THE HUMAN-BALLOON ALTITUDE RECORD, FASTEST SKYDIVE, AND HIGHEST SKYDIVE RECORDS. IT HAS ALSO BEEN PRELIMINARILY DETERMINED THAT HE BROKE THE SOUND BARRIER.
In a record-breaking attempt, extreme sky-diver Felix Baumgartner has donned his NASA-like pressure suit and parachute again, to jump from a pod rising as I type this, to over 22 miles up above the New Mexico Desert.
His incredible ultra-fast 700 mph sluice through our skies just might cause Baumgartner to break the sound barrier, the first time a human being has ever crashed through the sound limit without some sort of hurtling rocket-engined apparatus surrounding their fragile body.
Baumgartner is being assisted through radio communication by retired Air Force Colonel Joe Kittinger, who also jumped from over 102,000 feet in 1960, but never got to the speeds that Baumgartner hopes to reach. You can hear Kittinger's voice, as they go through a myriad of checks and tests during the lofting.
Currently at 52,000 feet and rising via a 40 acre balloon made of sheer materials, Baumgartner is well on his way to making history.
Red Bull, ever the sponsor of extreme events, has a live stream via their YouTube Channel available, so you can watch with the over 2 million others who have tuned in for the event. Feel free to share and watch the embedded stream below...
Don't want to stay online all this time to watch? The Discovery Channel is showing the loft and jump live on cable television (thanks to Aerospace Systems Engineer Nick Waye for the heads up).
Image courtesy UK Telegraph, live stream courtesy Red Bull's YouTube Channel
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