French skydiver plans to break sound barrier, in free-fall
A French skydiver plans to free-fall from nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers) up, breaking the sound barier as he hurtles earthwards, in an attempt to set four world records, he announced Monday.
Michel Fournier, 57, intends to jump from a specially designed balloon in a bid to to become the first man to break the sound barrier in free-fall.
At a speed of up to 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) per hour, he would also set the record for the fastest free-fall and break two others, for the highest jump and the highest flight in a balloon.
"What I like the most is the extreme -- always higher, faster, further and more audacious," the former French army major said.
Fournier announced his plans in Bristol, the base of Cameron Balloons which designed the Breitlinger Orbiter balloon that circumnavigated the world.
The company is designing a polythene balloon for him.
At 510,000 cubic metres (18 million cubic feet), around 95 metres high and 105 metres (313 and 346 feet) in diameter, the canopy will be around 170 times the size of an average balloon.
Fournier will spend some three hours ascending in an enclosed light-weight gondola before deflating the balloon and parachuting back down to earth in six minutes and 25 seconds.
Around 30 seconds into the jump he will break the sound barrier, and after about 60 seconds will reach terminal velocity, at which point he plans to open a parachute to slow his descent and land.
A parachute will also open on the gondola to allow it to descend safely.
Fournier will wear a special spacesuit to allow him to breathe and protect him against the extremely low temperatures, which can drop as low as minus 90 degrees Celsius, as well as from ultra-violet and cosmic rays.
The parachutist, who took up the sport in the army, has skydived more than 8,000 times, more than 100 of them at high altitude.
The jump is likely to take place in May next year in an uninhabited area of Canada, although the details have not yet been finalised.
