Weather scrubs new US space jump before weekend

An Austrian daredevil could make a new record-breaking attempt to jump from the edge of space at the weekend, after his initial launch bid was aborted due to gusting winds, a spokeswoman said. The Red Bull Stratos mission organizers had said that Thursday could be okay for a new bid, following a last-minute decision Tuesday to abort the launch of skydiver Felix Baumgartner. But weather forecasts made that impossible. "No go for Thursday. At this point Sunday is looking like an option," spokeswoman Sarah Anderson told AFP. "We will plan on having weather updates tomorrow and daily with continued details, but at this point the crew and teams are hoping for Sunday as the next launch day," she added in an email. The 43-year-old Austrian plans to jump from an altitude of 23 miles (36 kilometers) in a pressurized space suit after being taken aloft in a capsule suspended under a giant helium balloon. He aims to break three records: the highest freefall above Earth; the fastest speed ever achieved by a human; and the first person not in an aircraft to break the sound barrier of around around 690 miles per hour (1,100 kph). Baumgartner has been training for five years for the jump, during which he will be in freefall for some five minutes before opening a parachute at 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) to float back to the ground. The biggest danger he faces is spinning out of control, which could exert G forces and make him lose consciousness. A controlled dive from the capsule is essential, putting him in a head-down position to increase speed. Baumgartner has broken several records in the past, notably with spectacular base jumps from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The mission, backed by a 100-strong team of experts, also hopes to contribute to medical and aeronautical research aimed at improving the safety of astronauts. If and when it does go ahead, the ascent is expected to take between two and three hours. If all goes well, the descent will take about 15 to 20 minutes -- five minutes or so in freefall, and 10 to 15 floating down with his parachute.