Athlete Felix Baumgartner Looking at Sunday for Supersonic Skydive
Athlete Looking at Sunday for Supersonic Skydive - SFGate
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner hopes to make a second attempt to become the world’s first supersonic skydiver with a 23-mile free fall over New Mexico on Sunday or Monday.
Baumgartner aborted his mission Tuesday due to high winds, and his team had hoped the weather would allow him another try Thursday. But now they’re looking at the next window being Sunday or Monday.
Baumgartner is hoping to become the first skydiver to break the sound barrier by jumping from a capsule floated more than 120,000 feet into the stratosphere by an ultra-thin, 55-story helium balloon.
The jump was postponed due to wind Monday, then aborted at the last minute Tuesday because of wind gusts. The balloon is so delicate that it can take off only if winds on the ground are 2 mph or less.
Baumgartner is disappointed “like the rest of us” but taking a couple of days of critical downtime, his high-performance athletic trainer, Andy Walshe, said Wednesday.