A 4-minute, 18-mile Skydive at 536 MPH is Just Practice for Felix Baumgartner
OutdoorHub Reporters 07.27.12
For a man who wants to break the speed of sound with only his body and gravity, falling at the speed of 536 miles per hour is nothing. In order to accomplish his goal, Austria’s daredevil skydiver must fall faster than 768 mph, a truly surreal experience.
Baumgartner’s second of three trial jumps on July 25 was a big milestone in the course of the project to break the speed of sound. In detail, he fell from a hot-air balloon more than 96,640 feet (18.3 miles). In the 3 minutes and 48 seconds of freefall, he reached 536 mph (862 kmph) and landed safely in a desert near Roswell, New Mexico. He was wearing a pressurized space suit equipped with an oxygen supply.
He has only one more test jump to go. Reuters reports that the balloon itself that will carry him to the stratosphere will be as tall as a skyscraper.
