Well, it appears that this guy did. A French skydiver named Michel Fournier was planning to break the world record by jumping from 25 miles (!) above the earth's surface. I'll let you read the story here. Of course, a jump like this is full of risks to begin with. Not only is there great physical risk, but his own French government wouldn't let him jump, presumably due to danger to other people. Finally, he was able to get approval from the Canadian government. Then comes a whole unexpected risk. Just as he's getting ready to go up, his balloon -- get this -- floats away without him, or anyone else aboard, for that matter!
I must say, I feel really bad for the guy since he sold all his possessions to finance this attempt, but really, I think I've seen this episode on the Road Runner or some other such cartoon. If he gets another shot at this, I'm sure one new item on the pre-flight checklist will be "Make sure the friggin' balloon is tied down!!!".
Sunday, June 08, 2008
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