Up Up and Phoooooosh?? 64 year old French skydiver Michel Fournier's attempt to break the world free fall record failed to get off the ground when his balloon lifted off , unfortunately without him on board!!Michel had hoped to break four world records, ranging from the fastest and longest free fall, the highest parachute jump to the highest balloon flight, by free falling 25 miles from a balloon in Saskatchewan, Canada.
**You can read more about the historic jump on my older blog entry here.
He hoped to bring back data vital for astronauts and those at high altitudes.
But his helium balloon detached from its capsule as it was being inflated, and drifted away into the sky.
He was planning to jump from a point three-times higher than a commercial jet flies at.
Michael, a former paratrooper, had originally planned to make the jump in France, but the government refused him permission, saying it was too dangerous.
The fall was expected to last around 15 minutes, and Mr Fournier planned to deploy his parachute about 6,000m above ground.
This was his 3rd unsuccessful attempts, the 2 others in 2002 and 2003.
But his preparations were extreme:He was to wear a pressurized suit to protect him from the extreme low pressure and temperatures down to -100C. Sophisticated camera equipment was supposed to record key moments of the jump, particularly when he broke the sound barrier at 35,000m.
Also his parachute was set to open automatically if he lost consciousness during the jump - though there was no facility to eject from the balloon during the ascent.
Sad if you ask me.......I was really fascinated by the video on his website which showed the stages of his MISSION.But I'm pretty sure that he'll try again. So what if he wasn't "3rd time lucky"?? No.4 is the charm........ I hope!!
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