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14
Aug -
Man to Freefall from Edge of Space
- With 0 comments
With a parachute, of course. Still, very dangerous, considering the external temperature will be about 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
He will leap head-first from a weather balloon 25 miles above Earth and plummet at more than 1,000mph with only a parachute for company.
He will face external temperatures of minus 100c while inside his carbon-fibre suit it will be a stifling 65c - almost 150 fahrenheit.
And most amazing of all, Michel Fournier is actually looking forward to it.
The daredevil Frenchman, a greyhaired 63-year-old former paratrooper, aims to become the first person to break the sound barrier in free-fall.
As he plunges through the stratosphere at supersonic speed, he also hopes to break three more world records - for the longest sky dive, the highest parachute jump and the highest altitude achieved by a human in a balloon.
Despite the intense cold outside, his £35,000 suit will heat up inside when it meets air resistance. His crash helmet will have its own air supply and reinforced ear pads to protect him from the sonic boom as he breaks through the Mach 1 sound barrier.
His jump will last 8 1/2 minutes, his parachute not opening until 6 minutes 25 seconds in. I couldn’t free fall for almost 6 1/2 minutes. How about you?
