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Baumgartner's supersonic freefall: Faster than you thought

The wheels of bureaucracy do not turn at a supersonic rate.

It's been nearly four months since Felix Baumgartner traveled many, many miles into the sky in order to come hurtling back down to Earth in a freefall faster than the speed of sound. Judging by the data released by his backers at Red Bull Stratos, his jump was a breathtaking success. It was certainly thrilling to watch.

But it's not yet a world record (or as Baumgartner's group expects, several world records). For that, we're all still waiting for validation of the data by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, the nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that regulates air sporting events and certifies record claims for aviation and aerospace achievements.… Read more

No supersonic skydive for Baumgartner tomorrow

Felix Baumgartner will not attempt his stratospheric skydive tomorrow.

Weather conditions continue to be less than ideal for the mission, in which Baumgartner plans to set several records -- most dramatically, becoming the first person ever to fly, or in this case freefall, at supersonic speed without the protection of an aircraft fuselage around him. In making the attempt, if all were to go according to plan, he also would make the highest manned ascent with a balloon (120,000 feet, or just under 23 miles) to get to his jumping-off point, and the longest sustained freefall (an estimated 5 … Read more

Skydiver aims to go supersonic October 8, finally

If you're going to try to zip through the air faster than the speed of sound -- without an airplane, and straight down to boot -- well, that's not something you rush into.

And it's been a long haul indeed for Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner, who for years now has been planning to make a historic skydive from higher than anyone's ever jumped, and faster too. As in supersonic fast.

Today, the team behind Baumgartner finally put a long-delayed date to the skydive: October 8. OK, actually, that's a tentative date, since the final green … Read more