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Daredevil Felix Baumgartner’s 1110 km/h free fall from Earth’s stratosphere resumes launch plan after delays
A weather hold that threatened to cancel extreme athlete and skydiver Felix Baumgartner’s death-defying, 37 kilometre free fall into the southeastern New Mexico desert was lifted Tuesday morning and crews began laying out his balloon.
The planned early morning launch had been delayed by high winds. But just before 11 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), the winds calmed and the team decided to proceed with plans to make the flight, a process that would take about two hours.
The 43-year-old former military parachutist from Austria plans to take off in a 55-story, ultra-thin and easy-to-tear helium balloon that will take him into the stratosphere for the jump. He hopes it will make him the first skydiver to break the sound barrier and shatter three other world records. (Jay Nemeth/Red Bull via Getty Images; AP Photo/Red Bull Stratos, Luke Aikins)
UPDATE: Daredevil Felix Baumgartner’s 1110 km/h free fall from Earth’s stratosphere on hold due to high winds
Daredevil looking to make history Tuesday with 1110 km/h free fall from Earth’s stratosphere
Skydiver Felix Baumgartner’s attempt at the highest, fastest free fall in history Tuesday is more than just a stunt.
His planned 37-kilometre dive from the stratosphere should provide scientists with valuable information for next-generation spacesuits and techniques that could help astronauts survive accidents.
Jumping from more than three times the height of the average cruising altitude for jetliners, Baumgartner hopes to become the first person to break the sound barrier outside of an airplane. His team has calculated that to be 1110 km/h based on the altitude of his dive. (Red Bull Stratos, Jay Nemeth/The Associated Press)
Nik Wallenda faces Niagara Falls tightrope walk with rich, but tragic daredevil history
Daredevil Nik Wallenda will embark on a high-wire walk across Niagara Falls Friday night, starting around 10 p.m. EDT. When he sets out for his stunt, he’ll be adding another chapter to his family’s storied daredevil history, which dates back more than two centuries. (Photos: AP; AFP; Reuters)
Graphic: Nik Wallenda and the tightrope walkers of Niagara Falls
Stunting has been banned for more than a century at Niagara Falls, where daredevils of generations past made their mark. It speaks to the economic struggles the area has faced that Nik Wallenda was given a special exemption for his spectacle after battling officials on both sides of the border.
Related: After running Niagara’s gauntlet of red tape, Wallenda ready for his next challenge: the falls
Felix Baumgartner on track for highest ever free-fall jump
Stunt co-ordinator, skydiver, helicopter pilot and B.A.S.E. jumper Felix Baumgartner is on track to break four world records by jumping out of a balloon 36.5 kilometres above the earth.
Austrian Baumgartner conducted the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos on Thursday in Roswell, New Mexico. In this test he reach the altitude 21,800 meters (71,500 ft) and landed safely near Roswell.
Red Bull Stratos is a mission to the edge of the earths atmosphere, where upon reaching altitude of 36,000 meters (120,000 ft) by helium balloon, the 41-year-old hopes to complete the highest-ever freefall jump made by a human by plunging out of a specially designed balloon in the stratosphere.
Daredevil Baumgartner will also attempt to break the speed of sound in the free-fall to the ground. (Photo: Jay Nemeth/Red Bull via Getty Images)
Nik Wallenda to become first person to walk tightrope over Niagara Falls
In a stunning about-face, the Niagara Parks Commission now says it will allow seventh-generation daredevil Nik Wallenda to be the first person to walk a tightrope wire across the Horseshoe Falls this summer.
The commission had initially blocked the 32-year-old’s bid, citing a 128-year-old act that prohibits “stunting” in a municipality that counts people hurling themselves over the falls in a barrel as part of its lore. But the parks commission made an exception to the rule and reversed its decision, saying the economic benefits of the Wallenda event will far outweigh any other concerns.
“I feel like I’m extremely blessed,” he told the National Post by phone after the meeting. “There was a lump in my throat until about 11:30 this morning,” when the new decision came down.
The Niagara Parks Commission was the only thing standing in the way of what will become a high point of Mr. Wallenda’s career as a daredevil and scion of the ‘Flying Wallenda’ family of high-wire walkers.
Jackass star Ryan Dunn dies in car crash
Ryan Dunn, a co-star of the Jackass movie franchise, died Monday when a sports car he was driving careened off a highway in Philadelphia, Penn., and burst into flames, police said.
Dunn was driving a 2007 Porsche that police found in a wooded area in outer Philadelphia that was “fully engulfed in flames,” police in the West Goshen Township said Monday. An unidentified passenger also died in the crash.
The daredevil personality, 34, part of the crew in the top-grossing Jackass movie franchise that specialized in risky pranks and gross-out stunts, lived in nearby West Chester, Penn., police said. A police statement said a “preliminary investigation revealed that speed may have been a contributing factor to the accident.”
Photo: Jackass star Ryan Dunn (L), with Johnny Knoxville in the 2006 movie Jackass: Number Two. (Paramount Pictures)
