© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Record-Breaking Skydive Attempt Scrapped For Second Day

In this photo provided by Red Bull, Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria steps in the capsule during the second manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in July.
Getty Images
In this photo provided by Red Bull, Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria steps in the capsule during the second manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in July.

In case you were wondering, Felix Baumgartner, who was scheduled to jump out of a capsule floating at 120,000 feet, has cancelled his attempt for a second day in a row.

The BBC reports that like yesterday gusty winds in Roswell, New Mexico, halted Thursday's plans.

Baumgartner is trying to break the speed of sound using only his body.

The BBC adds:

"Baumgartner is trying to topple records that have stood for more than 50 years.

"The previous highest skydive was made by retired US Air Force Col Joe Kittinger, who leapt from a helium envelope in 1960. His altitude was 102,800ft."

"What he is trying to do is extremely dangerous."

Yesterday, Baumgartner made it into the capsule and his team started inflating the balloon that would lift him into the edge of space, when the attempt was called off.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
KCUR serves the Kansas City region with breaking news and award-winning podcasts.
Your donation helps keep nonprofit journalism free and available for everyone.