Some people have balls bigger then watermelons

[Rochard]

Fuck me. This guy is making a jump from 13 miles up! That's balls!



Skydiving daredevil Felix Baumgartner is more than halfway toward his goal of setting a world record for the highest jump.

Baumgartner lifted off Thursday for a test jump from Roswell, N.M., aboard a 100-foot helium balloon. He rode inside a pressurized capsule to 71,581 feet ? 13.6 miles ? and then jumped. He parachuted to a safe landing, according to project spokeswoman Trish Medalen.

He's aiming for nearly 23 miles this summer. The record is 19.5 miles.

"The view is amazing, way better than I thought," Baumgartner said after the practice jump, in remarks provided by his representatives.

Thursday's rehearsal was a test of his capsule, full-pressure suit, parachutes and other systems. A mini Mission Control ? fashioned after NASA's ? monitored his flight.

Baumgartner reached speeds of up to 364.4 mph Thursday and was in free fall for three minutes and 43 seconds, before pulling his parachute cords, Medalen said. The entire jump lasted eight minutes and eight seconds. She stressed that the numbers are still unofficial.

With Thursday's successful test, Baumgartner is believed to be only the third person ever to jump from such a high altitude and free fall to a safe landing, and the first in a half-century.

"I'm now a member of a pretty small club," he said.

When the 42-year-old Austrian known as "Fearless Felix" leaps from 120,000 feet in a few months, he expects to break the sound barrier as he falls through the stratosphere at supersonic speed. There's virtually no atmosphere that far up, making it extremely hostile to humans, thus the need for a pressure suit and oxygen supply.

The record for the highest free fall is held by Joe Kittinger, a retired Air Force officer from Florida. He jumped from 102,800 feet ? 19.5 miles ? in 1960.

Baumgartner is out to beat that record. He plans one more dry run ? jumping from 90,000 feet ? before attempting the full 120,000 feet. The launch window opens in July and extends until the beginning of October.

For comparison, commercial jets generally cruise at over 30,000 feet.

Baumgartner has jumped 2,500 times from planes and helicopters, as well as some of the highest landmarks and skyscrapers on the planet ? the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro, the Millau Viaduct in southern France, the 101-story Taipei 101 in Taiwan.

He's also plunged deep into the Earth, leaping face-first into a pitch-dark cave in Croatia.

Baumgartner considers that 620-foot-deep cave jump his most dangerous feat so far, soon to be outdone by his stratospheric plunge. His mission takes its name, Red Bull Stratos, from the stratosphere as well as the energy drink-maker sponsor.

"I like to challenge myself," Baumgartner told The Associated Press in a recent interview, "and this is the ultimate skydive. I think there's nothing bigger than that."

He's caught NASA's attention, even though space officially begins much higher at an even 100 kilometers, 328,084 feet or 62 miles.

Kittinger is now 83 and one of Baumgartner's chief advisers. A former NASA flight director directs the medical team: Dr. Jonathan Clark, whose astronaut wife, Laurel, was killed aboard space shuttle Columbia in 2003. The accident led Clark to become an expert in spacecraft emergency escape.

Kittinger and Clark were among those taking part in Thursday's dress rehearsal.

(news article)

[bean-aid]

so are you saying apolla could have just killed there jets and landed safely into earth without threat of burning up?

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Cool story...



ADG

[moeloubani]

balls bigger than watermelons and brains smaller than peanuts

[2MuchMark]

Yawn!

The man with the biggest balls is Joe Kittinger.



This is him jumping from 19 miles miles, or over 102,000 feet.


Joseph William Kittinger II (born July 27, 1928) is a former Command Pilot and career military officer in the United States Air Force. He is most famous for his participation in Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior, holding the records for having the highest, fastest and longest skydive, from a height greater than 31 kilometres (19 mi)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger

[AaronM]

Cool story.

I'm curious though...On a board where the majority of the community bitches about copyright infringement, why not just post a teaser and link instead of copying the entire article?

[jollyperv]

Yeager had bigger balls than both of these schmucks put together

[Supz]

pretty big balls

[EddyTheDog]

Originally Posted by AaronM

Cool story.

I'm curious though...On a board where the majority of the community bitches about copyright infringement, why not just post a teaser and link instead of copying the entire article?

I saw something the other day that said that a news article can not be copyright - It was the publishers own definitions that caused the issue.

It was someting like the BBC or CNN that published it - I will see if I can find it....

[Spunky]

Originally Posted by AaronM

Cool story.

I'm curious though...On a board where the majority of the community bitches about copyright infringement, why not just post a teaser and link instead of copying the entire article?

Some people actually believe he typed it out

[Supz]

Originally Posted by EddyTheDog

I saw something the other day that said that a news article can not be copyright - It was the publishers own definitions that caused the issue.

It was someting like the BBC or CNN that published it - I will see if I can find it....

With news, just like any articles like e-zines, as long as you reference the writer somehow, it is fare game. I am pretty sure.

[JFK]

Joe Kittinger doing it 52 years ago is more of a feat

[mikesouth]

I met joe Kittenger compliments of a friend of mine at Wright Pat (The airforce museum has an exihibit dedicated to joe) He is a bit, shall we say portly these days, but a nice guy and talk about balls...he did it when the technology didn't exist to really insure he didn't burn up, or freeze to death.

FYI he is still quiet on it but word is he is the only human to ever achieve mach 1 without being in a vehicle of some sort.

[just a punk]

Originally Posted by Rochard

Fuck me. This guy is making a jump from 13 miles up! That's balls!

Is there a video of that jump?

[martinsc]

fuuuuck.........

[alextokyo]

Fucking crazy. If he starts rotating, then spinning, I'd imagine he'd be fucked.

Somehow I get the picture that Joe Kittinger doing it in the 50's wrapped in cardboard, tinfoil, and plastic clothing is far by the bigger feat, but I wouldn't like to try either. I get nervous just riding an elevator.

[Biggie Smalls Web Writing]

Fucking awesome

[sperbonzo]

Falling never hurt anybody.






.

[Rochard]

Originally Posted by AaronM

Cool story.

I'm curious though...On a board where the majority of the community bitches about copyright infringement, why not just post a teaser and link instead of copying the entire article?

I included a link to the source. Don't hate.

[John-ACWM]

Whatever makes one feel the rush. Great views!

[JP-pornshooter]

Men of the right stuff is one helluva film, have seen that flick many times.
Chuck Yeager is definitively my hero, but this guy Joe Kittenger now gets a seat in the hall.
This guy Alex, wow - very cool, cant wait to see more this summer.
And talk about big balls, definitively 100% true