Red Bull Stratos : Mission to the edge of space

Aku mengikuti setiap percubaan demi percubaan oleh Felix Baumgatner... last time percubaan dia failed iaitu pada minggu lepas disebabkan oleh angin. Lokasi yang dipilih untuk sesi penerjunan dari stratosfera ini adalah di Roswell, New Mexico, USA. Kalau tak salah aku tempat ini adalah tempat dimana Unidentifed Flying Object (UFO) pertama kali mendarat di USA.

Tetapi pada hari ini sejarah telah tercatat dan beliau telah memecahkan rekod yang telah dibuat oleh Joe Kitinger pada tahun 1960 sebagai penerjun paling tinggi di angkasa pada ketinggian 128 ribu kaki/40 ribu meter. Keadaan mukabumi yang dapat dilihat pada ketinggian 40 ribu meter adalah seperti gambar Google Earth diatas. Berikut petikan Mission daripada website Red Bull Stratos

Red Bull Stratos, a mission to the edge of space, will attempt to transcend human limits that have existed for 50 years. Supported by a team of experts Felix Baumgartner plans to ascend to 120,000 feet in a stratospheric balloon and make a freefall jump rushing toward earth at supersonic speeds before parachuting to the ground. His attempt to dare atmospheric limits holds the potential to provide valuable medical and scientific research data for future pioneers.

The Red Bull Stratos team brings together the world's leading minds in aerospace medicine, engineering, pressure suit development, capsule creation and balloon fabrication. It includes retired United States Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, who holds three of the records Felix will strive to break.

Joe's record jump from 102,800 ft in 1960 was during a time when no one knew if a human could survive a jump from the edge of space. Joe was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and had already taken a balloon to 97,000 feet in Project ManHigh and survived a drogue mishap during a jump from 76,400 feet in Excelsior I. The Excelsior III mission was his 33rd parachute jump.

Although researching extremes was part of the program's goals, setting records wasn't the mission's purpose. Joe ascended in helium balloon launched from the back of a truck. He wore a pressurized suit on the way up in an open, unpressurized gondola. Scientific data captured from Joe's jump was shared with U.S. research personnel for development of the space program. Today Felix and his specialized team hope to take what was learned from Joe's jumps more than 50 years ago and press forward to test the edge of the human envelope.

Dan akhirnya pada hari ini pada 230am 15 Oktober 2012 Felix Baumgatner telah mencapai impiannya.

Tahniah!