On Sunday, October 14, Felix Baumgartner, a skydiver keen on extreme sports, successfully jumped from the edge of space. He made a long-awaited jump from a height of 39 kilometer and landed near a military base situated in Roswell, New Mexico.

He took off in a pressurized capsule carried by a 55-story ultra-thin helium balloon. As he exited his capsule from the scheduled height, he flashed a thumbs-up sign, aware that his feat was being shown on a live-stream via the Internet. He lifted his arms in victory shortly after landing, sending off loud cheers from onlookers and friends inside the mission’s control center in Roswell. It has been estimated that eight million people from all over the world watched the breath-taking jump. The leap became more than just entertainment – Sunday’s launch coincided with the 65th anniversary of American pilot Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier, and set the record for parachute jumps in altitude.

During the first part of Baumgartner’s free fall, anxious onlookers at the command center held their breath as he appeared to spin uncontrollably.

“When I was spinning first 10, 20 seconds, I never thought I was going to lose my life but I was disappointed because I’m going to lose my record. I put seven years of my life into this,” he said. “In that situation, when you spin around, it’s like hell and you don’t know if you can get out of that spin or not. Of course, it was terrifying. I was fighting all the way down because I knew that there must be a moment where I can handle it,” he added.

“When you stand there on top of the world, you do not think about breaking records anymore, you do not think about gaining scientific data. The only thing you want is to come back alive,” Baumgartner said after the jump.

The jump was made with the help of the Red Bull Stratos program. The aim of this program is to make new skydive record the edge of the earth’s atmosphere.

Felix Baumgartner made three new world records on Sunday. The first record is the highest stratospheric balloon flight, the second is the most altitudinal parachute jump, and the third is the fastest free fall. The speed of Baumgartner’s free fall reached 1713 kilometers per hour and the time of his free flight was four minutes and twenty seconds.

Felix Baumgartner’s life story

Felix Baumgartner, a former military skydiver, comes from Austria and has more than 2500 leaps from different monuments, skyscrapers, planes and helicopters behind. This year in July he jumped from the height of 29 kilometer, making the speed of 862 kilometers per hour during the free fall. After this he also successfully landed in New Mexico.

“Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are,” Baumgartner told reporters outside mission control, shortly after the jump. ”Honestly, I want to inspire the next generation. I would love to be here in four years and there a young guy sitting next to me because he wants to break my record,” he said.

Joseph William Kittinger: the master

Joseph William Kittinger II, a U.S. air force officer, was born in 1928, on July 27. He is most famous for his participation in Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior. Kittinger made the third peak leap on August 16 in 1960 within the framework of the Project Excelsior from a height of 31,3 kilometer. Kittinger’s free fall lasted for 4 minutes and 36 seconds, reaching a speed of 988 kilometer per hour. He was also the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon.

Kittinger held the previous world record for the jump that Baumgartner broke this weekend.

Image Courtesy of  Felix Baumgartner

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New York, U.S.A. – The 15th edition of the Red Bull Music Academy is descending upon New York City from September 30th to November 2nd 2012. This fall, 60 carefully selected producers, vocalists, beatmakers, instrumentalists and DJs from 35 countries will set up shop and exchange musical visions with some of the very best trailblazers of today’s musical landscape. Successful applicants will attend private lecture sessions and collaborate on music in an expansive, custom-built creative studio space in Chelsea that is being designed by acclaimed architect Jeffrey Inaba and outfitted with several recording studios and multi-purpose workspaces.

While creativity is being bred within the Red Bull Music Academy, all New Yorkers will have an opportunity to experience the power and enlightenment of some of the world’s best music acts, across all genres. A series of ticketed and free shows will occur in various venues around town – NYC music festival style. The full schedule of signature concerts and club nights will be announced in late August.

Red Bull Music Academy is bringing the beat all summer long:

In New York City the Academy will have:

• Co-curating the official after party for the Governors Ball Music Festival on June 23 with Nobody Beats the Drum, and Academy alumni Cubic Zirconia, XXXchange & Brenmar.
• Team-up with long-time Red Bull Music Academy affiliate Benji B of BBC Radio 1 fame for the NYC session of his London club night, Deviation, with Kode9 and Academy alum Lunice at Le Poisson Rouge on July 4.
• Screening of Red Bull Music Academy documentary on NYC hip-hop icons Mobb Deep, who are also former Academy lecturers at Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival on July 14.
• Central Park SummerStage presented by Giant Step and Red Bull Music Academy on July 22 featuring soul artists Bobby Womack and Willis Earl Beal, and DJing by Chairman Mao.
• Red Bull Music Academy’s very own Central Park SummerStage on August 20, talent to be announced very soon.
• More NYC Festival involvement to come…

Red Bull Music Academy is also hosting:

• ‘Red Bull Music Academy Discotheque’ stage at HARD Summer on August 3 & 4 in LA featuring the likes of Bootsy Collins, Chromeo, James Murphy and Academy graduates Lunice & Brenmar among many others.
• Recent curated Academy stages at world-renowned festivals: Movement Electronic Music Festival in Detroit, the venerable Montreux Jazz Festival, and the Sonar Festival in Barcelona, where a number of Academy alumni performed on their SonarDome stage.

All audio from the above performances and thousands more are available for streaming on www.rbmaradio.com.

More than 1,500 musical luminaries have participated in past incarnations of the Red Bull Music Academy. Former lecturers include Chuck D, Erykah Badu, Steve Reich, Sly & Robbie, Mark Ronson, M.I.A., Hot Chip, dubstep pioneers Skream and Benga, MF Doom, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, RZA, Gilberto Gil, CHIC’s Nile Rodgers, El Guincho, and pioneering synth inventor Bob Moog, amongst others. Many Academy alumni have gone on to become true innovators of their scenes like LA soul singer Aloe Blacc (“I Need A Dollar”); experimental electronic music producer Flying Lotus, currently collaborating with Erykah Badu and Thom Yorke; Mr Hudson, a British R&B/pop artist signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label; and singer/songwriter Jamie Woon, who last year recorded a Mercury Prize Session, a celebration of the best live music in the UK.

The Red Bull Music Academy has been pairing industry legends and emerging music-makers since 1998 in cities such as Berlin, Seattle, Cape Town, Melbourne, Barcelona, Rome, Sao Paulo and London. This unique combination of old school knowledge and new school music is unrivaled for its creative exploration and achievement. Each Red Bull Music Academy leaves behind structures to inhibit musical collaboration and creative exchange for years to come. By the end of 2012, there will be eight fully functioning Red Bull Music Academy recording studios around the world.

This fall’s roster of participants and line-up of events happening in NYC will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information on the Red Bull Music Academy and to access thousands of lecture videos, mixes, and exclusive tracks visit www.redbullmusicacademy.com.

Image Courtesy of  khunaspix / Shutterstock.com

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It’s almost that time of year again. The new Formula One season is just days away, and if you believe the rumors the battle is set to be closer than ever. Sebastian Vettel is looking to win his third consecutive world championship, whilst the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and even the returning Kimi Raikkone will be looking to make sure that doesn’t happen.

2011 had to go a long way to match the drama of 2010, and despite Vettel’s dominance throughout the year, the season still provided some great racing and some great races. But people now believe 2012 could be even better. Minimal rule changes mean there’s not much to discuss on the technical side, but the biggest change is the one which could affect how the season pans out early on.

Blown Diffusers have been banned this year, causing the majority of teams to re-think the design of their cars and how to get the most out of what they are allowed to work with. There is also a new front wing height rule in place, meaning most teams, except McLaren, have gone for an ugly-looking front nose cone which significantly dips down past the driver’s feet. It doesn’t look pretty unless you are a McLaren fan, and most believe the cars will be back to normal in 2013.

Smaller, yet still important rule changes include a change to the proceedings behind the Safety Car. Something that had bugged me for a long time was thinking a yellow flag period would make the race more interesting, only to find two HRT’s and a Virgin stuck between Vettel and Hamilton, allowing Vettel to fly away whilst the Brit got stuck behind the lapped cars. This year, the lapped cars can overtake the Safety Car and re-join the back of the pack, meaning closer racing at the front.

Now, on to the men that matter: the drivers. There aren’t any major changes in the line-ups this year. We say hello to a couple of rookies, but at the front of the grid, all remains as it was. Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari & Mercedes have stuck with their 2011 line-ups, meaning Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Massa, Rosberg & Schumacher will fight it out for the top spots.

But don’t rule out Lotus. Yes, Lotus. Not the ones who have been running at the back of the pack for the last two years. The Lotus team is now the old Renault team, but they may as well be a new team, as they have two new drivers this year. Kimi Raikkonen has returned to F1 with Lotus, and will be partnered by GP2 champion Romain Grosjean, who had a brief period in Formula One in 2009.

Pre-season testing would suggest Lotus had left the midfield trailing, and we may be talking about a top 5 team this season, rather than a top 4. But the fight in the middle should still be a closely run thing, with Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Williams & Caterham (previously Lotus) fighting it out. Force India have retained rookie of the year Paul Di Resta, but Adrian Sutil is out and replaced by former Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg.

It’s as if you were at Sauber with Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez still behind the wheel. However, the biggest change comes at Toro Rosso. Everybody thought the drivers of Sebastien Buemi & Jaime Alguersuari were safe, particularly the young Spaniard, but both were dropped after 2011 and have been replaced by ex-HRT driver Daniel Ricciardo, and young Frenchman, Jean-Eric Vergne.

It was the end of an era at Williams, with Rubens Barrichello departing F1 for IndyCar after almost 20 years in the sport. His place has been taken by Bruno Senna, the first time a Senna has raced for the team since that fateful day at Imola in 1994. He partners Pastor Maldonado,who keeps his place with the team. At Caterham, things look much brighter for the former Lotus brand.

The team seems to have stepped up a gear for 2012, and could be ready to challenge the midfield this year. Heikki Kovaleinen has been kept on, and has been joined by former Renault driver Vitaly Petrov for 2012. It’s a strong line-up for Caterham, and they’ll hope for some good early outings.

At the back of the pack, it’s not looking so good for Marussia (formerly Virgin) and HRT. Both have once again had rocky pre-seasons, failing to test their news in any of the three testing sessions, meaning neither team has attended a pre-season test with a new car for the three years both have existed in Formula One.

It seems each year both teams manage to take a step backwards before moving forwards. HRT have signed up experienced Spaniard Pedro De La Rosa to partner Narain Karthikeyan, whilst Timo Glock remains at Marussia, and is joined by rookie Charles Pic.

It’s all set for another bumper F1 season, plenty of close racing should be guaranteed, for the first time ever we have six world champions on the grid, and even a new race. Formula One returns to the USA after a stint away from the states, with the pack heading to Austin, Texas towards the end of the season.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/julien-reboulet/

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