On Tuesday, Red Bull Stratos was forced to of a balloon that was to take skydiver Felix Baumgartner 23 miles above the earth, where he was expected to break the world record for highest skydive and become the first free-falling human to reach the speed of sound. A commentator on the Red Bull Stratos livestream indicated that a radio failure had forced the delay of the 5 a.m. launch until the winds became too strong for the balloon to safely take off. The jump was originally scheduled for the summer of 2010, and Baumgartner later admitted that it was cancelled due to a bout of claustrophobia in the specially-designed space suit. Subsequent launch dates in the summer of 2012 were scratched due to winds. Baumgartner has said he will try again, but it is unclear when the weather will cooperate. The Red Bull team said the extremely delicate balloon would require wind speeds under 2mph in order to launch.
Via