Saturday, May 24, 2008

Michel Fournier's 130,000 Foot Parachute Jump

Most extreme activities are pretty lame, bungee jumping, street luge, paper clip chaining etc.. Jumping from 130,000 feet is quite another story.

He intends to climb into the pressurized gondola of the 650-foot balloon, which resembles a giant jellyfish, and make a two-hour journey to 130,000 feet. At that altitude, almost 25 miles up, Fournier will see both the blackness of space and the curvature of the earth. He will experience weightlessness.
Then he plans to step out of the capsule, wearing only a special space suit and a
parachute, and plunge down in a mere 15 minutes. If successful, Fournier will fall longer, farther and faster than anyone in history. Along the way, he can accomplish other firsts, by breaking the sound barrier and records that have stood for nearly 50 years.


UPDATE: Track his progress here.

4 comments:

Doctorade said...

and........did he do it tid he succeed?

El Duderino said...

Who the hell knows what goes on in Canada? News may trickle out by dog sled in a few weeks or you check Fourniers web site in the update.

Anonymous said...

No, he didn't... the envelope left the ground without the capsule. Can anyone swear in French?

zaphod said...

Merde!