Red Bull’s freefall foray
Sky high. Red Bull likes to go to the sporting limits. Which is why the energy drink brand is backing the Red Bull Stratos mission that will see Austrian pilot Felix Baumgartner jump from a capsule at around 120,000 feet and freefall at speeds that could break the sound barrier.
“No one can accurately predict how the human body will react in the transition to supersonic speeds,” says Baumgartner. “But we’ve got to find out. Future aerospace programs need a way for pilots and astronauts to bail out at high altitude in case of emergency.”
“I think one of the most profound benefits of Red Bull Stratos is going to be the inspiration for our youth,” says project medical director Dr Jonathan Clark, who served as a crew surgeon for six space shuttle missions. “The kind of stuff Felix is doing is like the early astronauts and cosmonauts.”
The BBC and Nat Geo are documenting the project for a 90-minute film, Space Dive, set to broadcast in the US on National Geographic Channel, and in the UK on BBC2.
