Red Bull Stratos with Felix Baumgartner – Mission ABORTED

Felix Baumgartner’s attempt to jump out a space capsule from the edge of space had to be aborted at the last minute (11.42hrs MDT local time) due to wind gusts that made it impossible to safely inflate the 30 million cubic feet / 834,497 cubic meters balloon for the launch. Baumgartner and the Red Bull Stratos team had waited for five hours in vain for the winds to calm down.

Red Bull Stratos mission in Roswell

High altitude balloon twists in the wind just seconds to its abortion during the Red Bull Stratos mission in Roswell, New Mexico, USA on October 9, 2012 [c) Predrag Vuckovic/Red Bull Content Pool

The Austrian athlete is attempting to undertake a stratospheric balloon flight to an altitude of 120,000 feet / 36,576 meters and attempt to become the first person to break the speed of sound in free fall. The findings from the mission will also help to improve our scientific understanding of the stratosphere and how the body copes with the extreme conditions at the edge of space.

Felix Baumgartner of Austria leaves his capsule after his mission was aborted

Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria leaves his capsule after his mission was aborted due to high winds during the final manned flight of Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico, USA on October 9, 2012.(c) balazsgardi.com/Red Bull Content Pool

This Statement from Red Bull Stratos: “As we inflated the balloon and got Felix into the capsule at about 11:42 we experienced gust of wind …that took us to above 22 knots at the peak of the balloon, that caused a spinnaker effect on the balloon billowing, which twists the balloon in the launch arm, the integrity of the balloon at that point is really unknown and unacceptable to use for manned flight because we were not sure what would happen as we launched.”

The intention is still to launch the capsule attached to a helium balloon to the target height. At this stage the mission team is closely monitoring possible new launch days before the green light is given for another countdown.

Read about Don Day, meteorologist and impact of the weather on the mission here.

Pending official data review and confirmation, the test leap on 25 July from over 96,640 feet / 29,455 meters takes Baumgartner past Russia’s Yevgeny Andreyev (83,523 feet / 25,458 meters) to make him only the second man to have successfully completed a jump from such an altitude. His planned freefall from 120,000 feet / 36,576 meters would finally break the record of 102,800 feet set 52 years ago by the only man who has jumped from a higher altitude, Baumgartner’s mentor Joe Kittinger. Read about the other  attempts here. Other Attempts at High-Altitude Balloon Record.

FELIX BAUMGARTNER, Red Bull Stratos Pilot
“We’ve made it so far, there’s no way we’re turning back. We are here, and we’re good to go. I have an idea: We have such a great team with such good energy. With all that energy, we don’t need a balloon. Let’s just have everyone stand around the capsule with their good energy and shoot me up to the moon!”

This what it should have looked like on Tuesday 9th October, 2012

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  1. […] sound barrier in freefall and a 52-year-old record for highest-altitude jump after Tuesday’s aborted attempt. Baumgartner gets a new chance to jump from 36,576 meters today. Capt. Charles E. Yeager […]

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