UPDATE: Looks like the launch should go off at roughly 1:00 PM EST.

Watch the live feed here: http://jalopnik.com/59493...-right-now

Red Bull athlete Felix Baumgartner is getting set to jump out of a balloon from 23 miles above Earth.

If he succeeds, he'll be the first man to break the sound barrier and will own the record for the highest altitude jump ever recorded. And it all starts right here.

Baumgartner will jump and should be in freefall for about five minutes. He's going to pull his chute at around 5,000 feet up, which means he'll fall 22 miles until the chute is opened.

Insanity. The livefeed has been delayed slightly and will now start 8:30 AM EST/5:30 AM PST.

Click here to learn everything you need to know about this world record attempt.

[Edited 10/9/12 9:50am]

I saw an article about this yesterday and my hands immediately got clammy.

I admire his courage.

Do people need attention this badly?

Efan said:

I saw an article about this yesterday and my hands immediately got clammy.

I admire his courage.

I watched the video where he jumped out of the balloon at 71,000 feet and lots of my body parts were tingling.

I cannot imagine riding a balloon up 23 miles, and then knowing the only way back down is to jump!

Graycap23 said:

Do people need attention this badly?

He got yours!

But in all seriousness, this will be the first time in history a person has ever broken the speed of sound in free flight.

If that's not attention-worthy, I don't know what is.

RodeoSchro said:

Graycap23 said:

Do people need attention this badly?

He got yours!

But in all seriousness, this will be the first time in history a person has ever broken the speed of sound in free flight.

If that's not attention-worthy, I don't know what is.

It's pointless if u ask me.

Graycap23 said:

RodeoSchro said:

He got yours!

But in all seriousness, this will be the first time in history a person has ever broken the speed of sound in free flight.

If that's not attention-worthy, I don't know what is.

It's pointless if u ask me.

Well, I didn't ask you.

I dare someone to put a trampoline on the landing site...

...It would make one hell of a bungee jump

RodeoSchro said:

Graycap23 said:

It's pointless if u ask me.

Well, I didn't ask you.

But I told u anyway.

Graycap23 said:

RodeoSchro said:

Well, I didn't ask you.

But I told u anyway.

As far as I'm concerned, all you did was bump my thread to the top!

freefall for five minutes!!!!!! whoa. that would be... cold and maybe physically difficult but rather an amazing feeling eh?

Steadwood said:

I dare someone to put a trampoline on the landing site...

...It would make one hell of a bungee jump

to the moon or bust!!!!

movement on the live link!

So it's not happening today? How disappointing!

aww tuned in just in time to see it aborted..

dang. well, he will need the best possible chance to survive this stratospheric excursion

I really hope that they can trigger his parachute automatically/remotely, because I can't see how he can break the sound barrier (with his BODY) and not lose consciousness.

PurpleJedi said:

I really hope that they can trigger his parachute automatically/remotely, because I can't see how he can break the sound barrier (with his BODY) and not lose consciousness.

i know. how will he breathe?

he's got to be some kind of nutter! will he wear breathing stuff? he'll freeze his bollix off at least

Mary Roach wrote about Baumgartner in her book Packing for Mars, a really excellent read. I’m probably displaying a relentless grasp of the obvious here, but her description of what can happen to someone if they spin out of control during a high-altitude dive is absolutely terrifying.

Roach is interviewing an Air Force colonel who tested an X-20 space ejection system. From page 253:

“During a 1963 test …Fulgham went into a flat spin and experienced centrifugal forces so strong he could not bend his arms to his chest to pull the ripcord…Sensors clocked him spinning at 177 revolutions per minute. “We ran some monkeys on the centrifuge at Wright-Pat, where the force was outward on the head at about 144 RPM. The brain compressed enough into the top of the skull that it separated from the spinal cord. That should have happened to me.”

Best of luck to him.

[Edited 10/9/12 17:21pm]

This might wind up being another case of natural selection.

I do not think some of you grasp the gravity of this!

OnlyNDaUsa said:

I do not think some of you grasp the gravity of this!

It got cancelled.

Dumbass idea. I hope he has a Will.

Which would be a worse way to die:
jumping out of a balloon at that height
or
from winning a roach-eating contest...?

Now before you answer, remember,
either way, your name will go into the record books.....

RodeoSchro said:

Graycap23 said:

But I told u anyway.

As far as I'm concerned, all you did was bump my thread to the top!

That was funny so here's another bump for you.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

I do not think some of you grasp the gravity of this!

luv4u said:

It got cancelled.

Dumbass idea. I hope he has a Will.

Which probably saved this fool's life.

luv4u said:

It got cancelled.

Dumbass idea. I hope he has a Will.

Only if you're not well prepared. The guy currently holding the record set it over 50 years ago. You'd think with today's technology/knowledge it would be a lot easier/safer. Conditions have to be perfect though.

PurpleJedi said:

I really hope that they can trigger his parachute automatically/remotely, because I can't see how he can break the sound barrier (with his BODY) and not lose consciousness.

As long as he can do his breathing exercises, has enough oxygen and doesn't start spinning he should be fine. Pulling the chute at 0.9 Mach won't help him one bit. lol