From Novice To World Record Breaker At The Edge Of Space

Press release March 25, 2008 Sport

Moving from novice skydiver to perform a record breaking skydive from the very edge of Space.

In 1960 an American Colonel Joseph Kittinger traveled to the edge of space in a helium balloon, at 106,000 ft he did something very brave and amazing he jumped! Setting a new world record for the highest sky dive. In 2008 Joby Ingram-Dodd, a complete novice skydiver, (who has yet to do any sky dives) will break the record with a 150,000 ft jump, again from a helium balloon. During the 20 minutes it will take to return to earth he will break the sound barrier reaching speeds in excess of 800 mph, after punching back into the earth's atmosphere he will open his parachute and glide safely back to ground.

Joby a former commonwealth games track cyclist has got bored with his job in the City of London and decided he needs some excitement in his life. Not one to do things by halves he has set his site on a world record which has stood for nearly 50 years. The worlds Highest Skydive!

Originally set by an American colonel researching high altitude effects on the human body for the US space program, the record presents many challenges. Not least the fact that he will be traveling well outside the breathable atmosphere, temperatures will be around -90oC and he will reach speeds close to 900mph during the fall.

The 150,000 ft jump is around 5 times higher then Everest or a transatlantic jet. Traveling in a helium balloon, with an open basket, wearing only a space suit to protect him from the cold and radiation, it will take Joby around 4 hours to reach the record altitude and 20 Minutes to return to earth. Assuming all goes to plan Joby will hold the following records:

Worlds Highest Sky Dive
Worlds Longest Free Fall
Worlds Fastest Speed by a man without a vehicle
Worlds Highest manned Balloon flight

Now you would think that any body even considering this record would need many years of sky diving experience. Well not Joby he has no experience in skydiving having not even completed any sort of sky dive. He plans to complete the dive at the end of 2008 and will spend the year until then in intensive parachute, space suit, physical and mental preparation.

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For more information visit http://www.spacedive2008.com/ or contact Joby on 07740309661 email: [email protected]