Stratospheric Skydive Suffers Setback

French Free-Faller's Record Attempt Foiled When His Balloon Takes Off Without Him

(AP)  A French skydiver's hope to set a new free-fall record was dealt a new setback Tuesday - his ride to the sky left without him.

The helium balloon Michel Fournier was going to use to soar to the stratosphere detached from the capsule he was going to use to jump from 130,000 feet.

It happened as the balloon was being inflated on the ground at the airport in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. The balloon drifted away into the sky without the capsule.

Fournier, 64, had planned to make the attempt Monday, but had to postpone his plans because of weather conditions.

Fournier hopes to break the record for the fastest and longest free fall, the highest parachute jump and the highest balloon flight. He also hopes to bring back data that will help astronauts and others survive in the highest of altitudes.

An army of technicians, data crunchers, balloon and weather specialists arrived recently in North Battleford, a city of 14,000 near the Saskatchewan-Alberta boundary, for the attempt.

Attempts in 2002 and 2003 ended when wind gusts shredded his balloon before it even became airborne.

Fournier had planned to make the jump in his native France, but the government denied him permission because it believed the project was too dangerous. He then came to North Battleford, an agricultural and transportation hub northwest of Saskatoon.

Spokeswoman Francine Lecompte-Gittens said Monday's postponement was due to unfavorable weather.

Fournier, a former army paratrooper with more than 8,000 jumps under his belt, hopes to be three-times higher than a commercial jetliner. A mountain climber would have to ascend the equivalent of four Mount Everests stacked one on top of the other.

It is expected to take Fournier 15 minutes just to come down, screaming through thin air at 932 miles per hour - 1.7 times the speed of sound - smashing through the sound barrier, shock waves buffeting his body, before finally deploying his chute about 6,000 yards above the prairie wheat fields.

[fibonacci_gr]

So just where is all this fantastic classical French Music ? I can''''t think of a single French classical piece I would call "fantastic".

Now they do have some very fine music from the 19th century Romantic era, including that very Symphonie Fantastique of Hector Berlioz; and then there are the 19th century romanitc Organ composers like Cesar Franck and Widor; but I can''''t think of anything classical that ever came out of France, musicwise.

Posted by Seafang

Then you have a lot to learn. Most dance forms which were popular in the Baroque came from France. Impressionist started in France. Spectralism started in France. Pointallism arose out of French visual art.

Excellent French composers: Lully, Rameau, Pierre de La Rue, Dufay, Machaut, Frangois and Louis Couperin, Saint-Saens, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc.

I really wonder about your knowledge on the subject...hmmmm.

[taylor2124]

I''ve read multiple articles on this but not one has truly explained exactly how this $200,000 balloon got away from them. Have these people never heard of tethers, of securing the balloon to the ground or a heavy object somehow? I think a bunch of high school science students could have figured out that you could tie the balloon to the bumper of a truck so it didn''t just float away. When something is expensive, important, one of a kind, and you''ve been planning it for years, you simply are more careful than this. Sounds like Fournier surrounded himself with imbeciles.

[seafang]

" acolton1, they make some fine wine, they have a fantastic tradition of classical music and IRCAM still puts out some pretty fat software for electro-acoustic music-making. They can be weenies though.


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Posted by fibonacci_gr at 04:42 PM : May 27, 2008 "

So just where is all this fantastic classical French Music ? I can''t think of a single French classical piece I would call "fantastic".

Now they do have some very fine music from the 19th century Romantic era, including that very Symphonie Fantastique of Hector Berlioz; and then there are the 19th century romanitc Organ composers like Cesar Franck and Widor; but I can''t think of anything classical that ever came out of France, musicwise.

[omded]

acolton1,
Don''t forget Napoleon or Louie XIV. Also, remember the American Colonists might well have lost the Revolutionary War if the French hadn''t helped us out. One last thing, I know our government mounted a pretty impressive character assasination of the French prior to invading Iraq, but, you know what? The French told us so. If only we''d listened instead of renaming the "freedom fries", a lot of our soldiers wouldn''t have lost their lives fighting for a lie.

[toolmangler-2009]

Looks like he has been told ''stop the studidity'', Even an atheist would stop and think for a moment that this event was meant for someone else to complete. I wish him no harm. but it is my feeling that he should not tempt (whatever) anymore.

[acolton1]

Posted by fibonacci_gr at 04:42 PM

You are correct they do make some good Wine and Cheese. OH sorry its the Italians that make the good Cheese.

[hotflush-2009]

Just like the French. The balloon surrendered before the first move into action.

[haoli25]

Cela ruinera votre jour!

[fibonacci_gr]

acolton1, they make some fine wine, they have a fantastic tradition of classical music and IRCAM still puts out some pretty fat software for electro-acoustic music-making. They can be weenies though.

[acolton1]

The French cant do anything right is so 100% correct. The French can''t even win a single war they have been in the past. The only thing that the French are good for it cooking.

[fibonacci_gr]

Yea of course there are exceptions. I give her credit, definately. But in reality there is no reason to suspect that women and men have evolved EXACTLY equal intellectual or artistic capacity.

[bobnjersey]

[But women consitently perform at a lower level in general on IQ tests and in arts and science.]
[Posted by fibonacci_gr at 03:36 PM : May 27, 2008]

this doesn''t seem to be the case w/ this woman ... 17,000 sky dives, 18,000 flying hours, 19,000 aircraft landings, guinness world record 352 jumps/24 hours, etc, etc, etc.

[fibonacci_gr]

Women are actually not as intelligent as men on average. It is a small difference adimittedly, but there is scientific evidence to back this theory up. Men might do more stupid things due to testosterone, that is true. But women consitently perform at a lower level in general on IQ tests and in arts and science.

[fibonacci_gr]

honestabe8, maybe she lacked the balls ;)

[shanev137]

The French can''t do anything right.

[questionnews]

It happened as the balloon was being inflated on the ground at the airport in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. The balloon drifted away into the sky without the capsule.


Kinda like loading your luggage into a cab & watching the cab drive away without you.

[honestabe8]

fibonacci: the previous plan to break this record was for cheryl stearns, the most decorated skydiver in the world, to attempt 130,000 feet. it didn''t happen. www.stratoquest.com

[fibonacci_gr]

guy has got canelope balls

[bobnjersey]

[It is expected to take Fournier 15 minutes just to come down, screaming through thin air at 932 miles per hour - 1.7 times the speed of sound - smashing through the sound barrier, shock waves buffeting his body, before finally deploying his chute about 6,000 yards above the prairie wheat fields.]

this is pretty crazy ... 932 mph? the mishaps may be a signal here ... soemone''s trying to tell him something.

[honestabe8]

Vet_SK: I do not know about Yeager, but the highest planned parachute jump (as opposed to bailing out of a flawed aircraft) was 102,800 by Cpt. Joseph Kittinger in 1960 (or maybe 1961).