Skydiver’s freefall from edge of space cancelled due to high winds

Skydiver Felix Baumgartner was brought down to earth when his scheduled free fall was cancelled on Tuesday due to high winds.

He was attempting to become the first person to break the speed of sound with his Roswell, N.M., plunge.

Baumgarter, aptly nicknamed “Fearless Felix,” was scheduled to jump from 37 kilometres up wearing nothing but a space suit, a helmet and a parachute.

Click here to see a detailed photo of the suit

He was supposed to take off between 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., but the launch was continuously pushed back, until it was called off shortly before 2 p.m.

The details of the planned plunge were daunting: he was expected to hit speeds of 1,100 kilometres an hour – fast enough to break the sound barrier.

“I’m not crazy,” Baumgartner, 43, told CNN in 2010, adding records like these were made to be broken.
 
Air Force test pilot Joe Kittinger holds the current record for the highest jump when he plunged 31.4 kilometres in 1960. Kittinger was part of Baumgartner’s prep team.

A date for the new attempt has not yet been set.

The project, called Red Bull Stratos, is sponsored by the energy drink maker. (Stratos refers to the stratosphere.) The project costs have not been disclosed.

With files from The Associated Press

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