misaacs | Shared With: Everyone - May 23 2008 | news, space, extreme, ?, For, Frenchman, Falling, Down, Is, the, Journey, Michel, Fournier, will, attempt, what, he, has, dubbed, Le, Grand, Saut, Great, Leap, on, Sunday, from, plains, of, northern, Saskatchewan, Canada, spent, two, decades, and, nearly, $20, million, in, a, quest, to, fly, upper, reaches, atmosphere, with, helium, balloon, just, so, can, jump, back, earth, again, Now, says, ready, at, last, Depending, weather, 64, year-old, retired, French, army, officer
Quoted: In the past two weeks, Fournier’s 40-person team has assembled at the launch site, about 90 minutes northwest of Saskatoon. Fournier faces plenty of perils. Above 40,000 feet, there is not enough oxygen to breathe in the frigid air. He could experience a fatal embolism. And just 12 miles up, should his protective systems fail, his blood could begin to boil because of the air pressure
Quoted: If successful, Fournier will fall longer, farther and faster than anyone in history. Along the way, he can accomplish other firsts, by breaking the sound barrier and records that have stood for nearly 50 years.
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