Austrian Felix Baumgartner, an extreme sports enthusiast, will try on Tuesday around 17:30 GMT (1:30 PM EST), to break the speed of sound in freefall – a world first – diving from the record altitude of 120,000 feet (36,576 meters) above the U.S. state New Mexico. According to a press release from the organizers, the Austrian had been preparing for five years for this mission, but the last 24 hours have been the most daunting.
The only thing that Baumgartner does in the 24 hours preceding the jump is to rest and to conserve energy for crucial moments of the mission. “I fear the most when I try to fall asleep before the time when I start the preparation. It is quiet around me and just me with my thoughts,” says Baumgartner. “When I start to get ready, I have other things to think about and everything is much better.”
According to the organizers, Baumgartner began his day before the jump with light cardio exercises to relax the muscles and returned to the hotel to rest. According to the schedule announced by the organizers, 13 hours and 30 minutes before the jump, Baumgartner had lunch with team members. 24 hours before the jump, the team of doctors have prescribed a low-fiber menu because it is vital for him to eat only foods that are quickly digested which do not create gas in the body. This can lead to swelling of the body even in an area of low atmospheric pressure, as in the stratosphere.
Three hours before the jump, Baumgartner made a thorough inspection of the capsule and then underwent a medical test connected to the monitoring system that will monitor everything that happens during the mission. Two hours before, Baumgartner will start dressing the special costume, he will be connected to a respirator with oxygen, in order to purge from his blood the nitrogen which can expand in the veins at high altitude. Half an hour before the jump, Baumgartner will enter the capsule waiting for the countdown and launch of the mission.
The announcement of the jump, made in late September, ended a period of uncertainty regarding the time when the supersonic jump will take place, after the pressurized capsule, moved up by a balloon inflated with helium, was damaged in July, during the tests.
“All capsule systems have been tested successfully”, said in a statement Art Thompson, technical director of the project, called “Stratos”. Reaching the speed of sound, which is 1227.6 km/hour (343 meters/second), Felix Baumgartner, aged 43 years, who will wear a pressurized suit, will fly as fast as a bullet from a gun.
The world record for free fall with a parachute jump is owned since 1960 by a former colonel of aviation (U.S. Air Force), Joe Kittinger, who reached the limit of space using a helium balloon and jumped into space from an altitude of 31,333 meters.
In order to prepare for this performance, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner has already made two jumps over the state of New Mexico – the first in March from the 21,600 meters altitude, and the second in august, from an altitude of 29,456 meters – reaching a maximum speed of 864 km/hour before the parachute opened. Felix Baumgartner in 2003 became the first man to cross the English Channel in freefall using a hang glider wing made of carbon.
One of the main objectives of the “Stratos” project is the collection of scientific data that could improve space travel safety by allowing, in an emergency case, parachute jumps from high altitude. Before this project, Felix Baumgartner became known thanks to his jumps made from T101 World Financial Center in Taipei (Taiwan) and the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
The athlete is technical and financial supported by the Austrian energy drink Red Bull and its owner, Austrian multimillionaire Austrian Dietrich. Mateschitz is also the owner of Formula 1 team Red Bull-Renault, for which the current world champion Sebastian Vettel competes.
Update: the jump was cancelled due to weather (strong wind).
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