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By: - 25th May 2008 at 09:00 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Either very brave or very foolish. Having read the article it appears he is the former as he's been at it long enough to know the risks involved. Oh yes, I've just realised that could just as easily make him the latter, I suspect he's both in equal measure. I notice they've go the dates mixed up,the 25th is today and tomorrow is the 26th. Maybe done deliberately to throw the public off so they aren't mobbed with spectators.
By: - 25th May 2008 at 10:04 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Hmmmm ... rather him than me !!
Then again what a fantastic view(if alive!!)
By: - 25th May 2008 at 10:33 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I agree. Best of luck to him though.
By: - 26th May 2008 at 15:26 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Latest update so far, will check for news soon.
The Sound Barrier-Breaking, Longest-Ever Skydive
Weather permitting, 64-year-old Michel Fournier may already have climbed into his pressurized gondola and been carried for more than two hours by his 650-foot balloon to 130,000 feet (close to 25 miles high) above the earth -- where he may already have stepped out. Fournier said over the weekend that he would, Monday, somewhere over sparse and nearly lake-less Saskatoon, Canada, attempt the highest-ever parachute jump and, himself, move faster than the speed of sound ... weather permitting. Prior to the jump, reports indicated the fall could take more than 15 minutes (including time under canopy) and would take Fournier faster and farther than any previous skydiver, setting records for altitude in a balloon, fastest freefall, duration of freefall, and altitude to initiate freefall. Before the weekend, Col. Joseph Kittinger, Jr.'s record jump of 102,800 feet -- set Aug. 16, 1960 -- held top honors, literally. Reporters were told over the weekend Fournier expected to exceed the speed of sound while trailing a stabilizing drogue chute as he fell through 117,000 feet, accelerating to a maximum speed close to 1.68 Mach. En route, Fournier would pass through temperatures expected to be as cold as negative 115 degrees Centigrade, opening his parachute more than seven minutes after beginning his fall.
Fournier says his trip was inspired by the loss of life when the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger shuttle exploded during liftoff. All aboard were killed. The former French military paratrooper hopes his project will aid research into extremely high-altitude vehicle escape methods. Initially funded by the French pursuit of space travel, the European Space Agency cancelled its own shuttle program in the late 1980s and Fournier later found his own sponsors.
By: - 26th May 2008 at 19:19 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Attempt delayed until Tuesday due to wind.
http://news.aol.ca/article/Skydiver-to-Fall-From-Edge-of-Space/240537/
By: - 26th May 2008 at 19:23 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Probably a wise decision-no, definitely a wise decision.
By: - 27th May 2008 at 16:46 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Lost his balloon on todays attempt!
http://news.aol.ca/article/Skydiver-to-Fall-From-Edge-of-Space/240537/
By: - 1st June 2008 at 22:46 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
just watching the video on msn now NF...news reporter " im looking up at it now and it looks like a Giant Jellyfish"
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By: Newforest - 25th May 2008 at 08:23
Wow!
http://www.aero-news.net/news/sport.cfm?ContentBlockID=24547a8a-3f6e-4bc9-8769-c01c5f30c7f0&Dynamic=1