MISSION TO EDGE OF THE SPACE: RED BULL STRATOS

RED BULL well known for energy drink and also for sponsoring Extreme sports such as F1 Races, Mountain biking,BMX,Sky diving the list goes on...... This austrian  energy drink billion dollar company made its Brand Name popular world wide by winning F1 race champion ship with the f1 race team members Sebastian vettel and mark webber.

            RED BULL decided to set an another record in the field called SKY DIVING. And the man who is expert in sky diving s none other than AUSTRIAN SKY DIVER "FELIX BAUMGARTNER" who is nominated for a World Sports Award in London, England (category: Extreme Sports).

                                                                                   

            Felix's Record Breaking Jumps and Accomplishments include:


2012 - (July 25) Felix Baumgartner successfully jumped from 18 miles / 29 kilometres above the Earth 97,063 feet / 29,584 meters and completed a free fall at a speed of an airliner - 536 miles or 864 kilometres per hour (latest figures sanctioned by USPA and NAA). This jump was a significant achievement in ballooning history but it also proved that safety and recovery systems are functional in preparation for the 120,000 feet attempt.

2012 - (March 15) First test jump with high altitude balloon and pressurized capsule: Freefall from 71,581 feet over Roswell, NM. Maximum speed: 364.4 mph. Felix is the third person to leap from that altitude and survive.

2007 - BASE jump from world's tallest building, Taipei 101 Tower, Taipei, Taiwan (1,669 feet)

2006 - Felix earned his motorized wings as a helicopter pilot at Twin Air Helicopter School, Van Nuys, USA.

2004 - BASE jump into Marmet Cave in Velebit National Parc, Croatia (623 feet deep)

2004 - World record BASE jump from the highest bridge in the world, Millau Bridge, France (1,125 feet)

2003 - Channel Crossing, Dover, England to Calais, France; first crossing of the English Channel with a carbon wing

2001 - Nominated for a World Sports Award in London, England (category: Extreme Sports)

1999 - World record BASE jump from the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1,479 feet)

1999 - World record lowest BASE jump from Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (95 feet)

1997 - World champion title for BASE jumping in West Virginia, United States.

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Salzburg, Austria in 1969, Felix began skydiving at the age of 16 and polished his skills as part of the Austrian military's demonstration and competition team. In 1988, he began performing skydiving exhibitions for Red Bull. The company's out-of-the-box thinking and Felix's adventurous spirit clicked, and they've collaborated ever since.

By the 1990s, Felix felt that he'd gone as far as he could with traditional skydiving, so he extended his canopy skills with BASE jumping - parachuting from a fixed object or landform. He finds that the lightning-fast reflexes and precise techniques required by such low-altitude feats also enhance his high-altitude skydiving technique.
Felix has made world-record BASE jumps and has been nominated for a World Sports Award and two categories in the NEA Extreme Sports Awards. He is also a prominent advocate for the nonprofit Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation. And, while he acknowledges that the Red Bull Stratos mission is a step into the unknown, his determination to reach the edge of space and break the speed of sound is unshakable. "If Red Bull Stratos is successful, we can share data that hasn't been available ever before," Felix states. "I would be proud to be able to make such a contribution."

THE MISSION TO STRATOSPHERE:

                         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 Kittinger holds the world record for jumping   102,800 ft in 1960 from space

Current World Record holder kittinger mentor for RED BULL STRATOS team

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.