An attempt to make the highest ever skydive has been thwarted by gusty winds.
Image courtesy of balazsgardi.com/Red Bull Content Pool
An attempt to make the highest ever skydive has been thwarted by gusty winds.
Austrian adventurer Felix Baumgartner is aiming to make the jump from more than 120,000ft (36.5km).
He also hopes to become the first person to break the sound barrier without the use of a vehicle. This is because the rare atmosphere at 120,000ft means that he will accelerate rapidly upon stepping out of the capsule of his 30 million ft� (850,000m�) helium balloon.
Though surface conditions at the launch site at Roswell, New Mexico were calm yesterday, the winds about 700ft (215m) up were too gusty.
Wind speeds from the ground up to about 800ft (250m) must not exceed 3mph (5km/h) or Baumgartner’s polyethylene balloon could shred as the team try to release it.
Meteorologists say that Thursday now seems the most likely date for his record bid.
