Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Travel News .




SPACE TRAVEL
Weather scrubs new US space jump before weekend
by Staff Writers
Los Angeles (AFP) Oct 10, 2012


An Austrian daredevil could make a new record-breaking attempt to jump from the edge of space at the weekend, after his initial launch bid was aborted due to gusting winds, a spokeswoman said.

The Red Bull Stratos mission organizers had said that Thursday could be okay for a new bid, following a last-minute decision Tuesday to abort the launch of skydiver Felix Baumgartner.

But weather forecasts made that impossible. "No go for Thursday. At this point Sunday is looking like an option," spokeswoman Sarah Anderson told AFP.

"We will plan on having weather updates tomorrow and daily with continued details, but at this point the crew and teams are hoping for Sunday as the next launch day," she added in an email.

The 43-year-old Austrian plans to jump from an altitude of 23 miles (36 kilometers) in a pressurized space suit after being taken aloft in a capsule suspended under a giant helium balloon.

He aims to break three records: the highest freefall above Earth; the fastest speed ever achieved by a human; and the first person not in an aircraft to break the sound barrier of around around 690 miles per hour (1,100 kph).

Baumgartner has been training for five years for the jump, during which he will be in freefall for some five minutes before opening a parachute at 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) to float back to the ground.

The biggest danger he faces is spinning out of control, which could exert G forces and make him lose consciousness. A controlled dive from the capsule is essential, putting him in a head-down position to increase speed.

Baumgartner has broken several records in the past, notably with spectacular base jumps from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The mission, backed by a 100-strong team of experts, also hopes to contribute to medical and aeronautical research aimed at improving the safety of astronauts.

If and when it does go ahead, the ascent is expected to take between two and three hours. If all goes well, the descent will take about 15 to 20 minutes -- five minutes or so in freefall, and 10 to 15 floating down with his parachute.

.


Related Links
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SPACE TRAVEL
Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration
Toronto, Canada (SPX) Oct 10, 2012
An elevator to transport people to the moon, an inflatable habitat for living in space, a sleek new spacesuit for a stroll on Mars: These are some of the fascinating exhibits in Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration. This new exhibition, at the Ontario Science Centre from October 3, 2012, through January 1, 2013, offers a thought-provoking vision of the future of space explo ... read more


SPACE TRAVEL
SpaceX capsule links up with space station: NASA

Assembled and poised for launch: Soyuz is ready with its two Galileo navigation satellites

SpaceX On Course For Crew Resupply Cargo Delivery To Space Station

SpaceX craft on way to ISS in first supply run

SPACE TRAVEL
First Scoopful A Success

Checking a Bright Object on the Ground

China to collect samples from Mars by 2030: Xinhua

Mars rover finds 'bright object'

SPACE TRAVEL
China has no timetable for manned moon landing

Senior scientist discusses China's lunar orbiter challenges

NASA sees 'gateway' for space missions

Protection for Moon, Mars astronauts eyed

SPACE TRAVEL
Sharpest-ever Ground-based Images of Pluto and Charon: Proves a Powerful Tool for Exoplanet Discoveries

The Kuiper Belt at 20: Paradigm Changes in Our Knowledge of the Solar System

e2v To Supply Large CMOS Imaging Sensors For Imaging Kuiper Belt Objects

Fly New Horizons through the Kuiper Belt

SPACE TRAVEL
Candels Team Discovers Dusty Galaxies At Ancient Epoch With Hubble Space Telescope

Large water reservoirs at the dawn of stellar birth

Comet crystals found in a nearby planetary system

The Magnetic Wakes of Pulsar Planets

SPACE TRAVEL
ATK Awarded $50 Million Contract for NASA's Advanced Concept Booster Development for SLS

Rotors seen as method of spacecraft return

ATK and NASA Showcase Cost-Saving Upgrades for Space Launch System Solid Rocket Boosters

Australian hypersonic test a success

SPACE TRAVEL
ChangE-2 Mission To Lagrange L2 Point

Meeting of heads of ESA and China Manned Space Agency

China Spacesat gets 18-million-USD gov't support

Tiangong Orbit Change Signals Likely Date for Shenzhou 10

SPACE TRAVEL
Asteroid fragments could hint at the origin of the solar system

A New Dawn For NASA's Asteroid Explorer

Troughs Suggest Stunted Planetary Development Of Vesta

Mysterious Case of Asteroid Oljato's Magnetic Disturbance




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement