Hasta La Gadget!

Today is the big day for daredevil Felix Baumgartner and the Red Bull Stratos team. Assuming the weather holds out, Baumgartner will spend two hours climbing to over 120,000 feet inside his pressurized capsule attached to the world’s largest helium filled balloon. Once Baumgartner reaches his apex at about 23 miles above the Earth’s surface, he will jump.

The skydive isn’t the only record Baumgartner aims to break. Assuming he succeeds, he will also be making the highest manned balloon flight ever. Baumgartner and his team expect that at the altitude where his descent will begin, he will need to reach 690 mph to break the sound barrier. He will become the first human to travel faster than the speed of sound without an aircraft if all goes according to plan.

Luckily for us, Baumgartner will be wearing multiple cameras on his high-tech pressure suit. Baumgartner has five cameras in various locations on his body that will record footage so we can all watch as he plummets to the ground. Baumgartner’s suit also has a variety of sensors and other technology to allow him to communicate with his ground crew and to verify if he breaks the speed of sound.

You can watch the live broadcast below, or at redbullstratos.com/live.

And while we wait for the weather to clear, you can watch this cool CGI simulation of the dive:

We talked on more than one occasion about Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner. Baumgartner has been preparing for an attempt to set a record for jumping from the highest altitude in history over the last several months. The last time we talked about Baumgartner, he had conducted a practice jump from 96,640 feet.

Baumgartner is set to make his official record-setting plunge from an altitude of 23 miles over the surface of the United States. Baumgartner reach a top speed of 690 mph, breaking the sound barrier without using an aircraft. The record-breaking jump was originally set for August, but was delayed.

The official jump will now take place on October 8. The delay was the result of damage sustained to Baumgartner’s capsule used to carry him to altitude during his last practice jump. The capsule had to be repaired and then retested before Baumgartner could make his record-setting attempt.

The capsule is carried 23 miles above the earth using a gigantic helium balloon. Baumgartner will wear pressure suit that looks like a suit astronauts wear in space. The probability for the delays is high because the record-setting jump requires perfect weather. Any weather issues will result in further delay of the jump.

[via Fox News]

Record-setting space skydive to take place October 8 is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This may be the most awesome video you see all week. Team Hot Wheels has landed the Guinness World Record for successfully racing two real cars through a 60-foot tall double vertical loop at the X Games in Los Angeles over the weekend. The track was called the Team Hot Wheels Double Loop Dare and the six-story tall track is a real-life version of a Hot Wheels toy track.

The stunt was performed by Team Hot Wheels green driver Greg Tracy and yellow driver Tanner Faust. Faust and Tracy lined up side-by-side and launched from the starting line to a speed of 52 mph before entering the side-by-side loop. The drivers were subjected to a force of seven Gs as they went through the loops.

The duo successfully completed the loop and a small jump at the end to complete the stunt perfectly. It’s so cool to see a real-life six-story Hot Wheels racetrack set up with real cars zipping around just like the kids toys. Naturally, the double loop track was based on the new Team Hot Wheels Double Dare Snare track set available in toy stores everywhere.