Daredevil Begins Balloon Flight for World’s Highest Skydive

An Austrian daredevil has begun ascending toward the stratosphere in a giant balloon, kicking off his attempt to break the world record for highest-ever skydive. Felix Baumgartner’s 55-story balloon lifted off from Roswell, N.M. at 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT) Sunday (Oct. 14), carrying the daredevil inside a custom-built 2,900-pound (1,315 kilograms) capsule. If all goes according to plan, the balloon will rise to an altitude of 120,000 feet (36,576 meters) over the course of several hours. Then Baumgartner will step out of his capsule, nearly 23 miles (37 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. He’ll plummet through the stratosphere in a harrowing 5.5-minute freefall that will see him become the…

WN.com – Science News