Guest #1 September 19, 2002 This is a fluffed version of the press release I posted here this morning, dated from yesterday. Dowd (Reuters) is on the media update list I'm getting from Fournier's Boston office. There's still been nothing today. This may be due to Fournier's crew changing hotels. They may have gone someplace that doesn't have direct hi-speed internet, so updates are being delayed. BTW - the "1965" fatality is in error. Nick Piantanida died in '66. mh ----------- Weather delays record skydive attempt over Canada By Allan Dowd VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Poor weather thwarted Wednesday a French parachutist's planned leap of faith from 40,000 meters (25 miles) above the Canadian Prairies that will put him in the record books if he survives. High winds and rain at the jump site near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, made it too dangerous for Michel Fournier to attempt the high-atmosphere skydive, but organizers said they have not given up hope of another attempt. "Michel and the team are ready and waiting. As soon as the green light will turn on, Michel will jump," Brigitte Harle, a spokeswoman for "Le Grand Saut" told reporters in written statement. If successful with his stunt, Fournier, 58, a former French army parachutist, will set three parachute records -- for the highest jump, the fastest and the longest freefall -- as well as an unofficial record for the highest balloon ascent. The current height record for a high-altitude skydive was set in 1960 by Joe Kittinger, a U.S. Air Force test pilot, who jumped from 31,333 meters and fell for more than four minutes before his parachute opened. Fournier's freefall is expected to last six minutes and 25 seconds, and he could travel as fast as Mach 1.5, breaking the sound barrier as he plunges back into the earth's atmosphere wearing a specially designed space suit. A stratospheric ballon carrying a small pressurized space capsule will take more than three hours to carry Fournier to the planned drop height in the extreme upper fringes of the atmosphere. "He quite (almost) sleeps in his space suit, his arms around the gondola!" Harle said. Organizers say the position of the jetstream is critical in deciding if Fournier can make the jump, because the high winds could accidentally blow him sideways or cause him to tumble out of control. Dangerous winds also forced organizers to delay attempts to launch Fournier last week and Tuesday. Body sensors will monitor Fournier's condition as he falls to earth, deploying his parachute automatically if he loses consciousness. If the jump goes according to plan, Fournier's chute will deploy at 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) above the ground. Fournier, who holds the French record for the longest freefall, is among a handful of international high-altitude parachutists vying to break the record. Equipment failure killed a U.S. skydiver who made the attempt in 1965. Fournier has been planning the jump since 1986 when he said the idea of breaking Kittinger's record came to him after learning about the accident that destroyed the U.S. space shuttle Challenger."The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
