Today is the day that Felix Baumgartner was originally meant to jump out of a pressurized cabin being carried by a balloon up 23 miles above the surface of the planet. This jump is already a record-breaking jump even before he lands, with 120,000 feet / 36,576 meters between him and Earth breaking a record that’s existed for more than 50 years. This jump that’s being sponsored by Red Bull also has Baumgartner breaking another record – he’s becoming the first human to break the sound barrier in freefall – that’s an estimated 690 miles / 1,110 kilometers per hour. UPDATE: The jump has been delayed for today on account of gusty winds, cancelled until tomorrow at best. Seeya then!
What you’re going to see below this paragraph is a dramatization of the event created by Red Bull to show you how epic this whole situation is. With this mission racking Baumgartner up another death-defying feat for his wall of excellence, we can’t help but wonder what he’s going to do next. He’s already jumped out of an airplane with nothing but shorts on, for goodness sake.
In addition to this dramatization, you can watch the whole event unfold live via the YouTube feed shown at the end of this post. It’s important to note that this drop doesn’t just break a couple of records for the fun of it, Baumgartner is also delivering data collected from his fall back to earth where it can be studied for the advancement of scientific and medical science. Literally dropping your body out of a craft at the edge of what we’ve decided is outer space – that’s quite a feat!
You can also have a peek at our timeline below to get additional details on this mission – if that’s what you’d like to call it. Be sure to pay attention to how Red Bull as a brand is making this quite clearly a one-on-one environment for you and your wallet. It’s the kind of situation where you’re not quite sure if you’re being advertised to – but with the Red Bull brand on every bit of gear, Baumgartner knows exactly what this is: an amazing opportunity to jump out of a metal canister 23 miles above the dirt!
UPDATE: live shots being added to gallery above as they occur – be sure to watch the whole drop and let us know how you enjoyed it in the comments below as well!
Story Timeline
Red Bull Supersonic skydive a go [UPDATE: Delay for today!] is written by SlashGear.
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