Latest Parachute Stories

Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian extreme sportsman, said his next goal is to try to break the long-standing record for the highest ever parachute jump, BBC News reported.American Joe Kittinger made history by leaping from a balloon at 102,800ft some 50 years ago and many have sought to repeat the feat over the years but all have failed.Baumgartner now plans to skydive from a balloon sent to at least 120,000 ft. The daredevil is famous for stunts such as jumping off the Petronas Towers.He could...

FREDERICKSBURG, Va., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- America's ultimate adrenaline sport will command the skies over Texas during the 2009 United States Parachute Association (USPA) National Skydiving Championships on October 12-25 at Skydive Spaceland outside of Houston. Over 500 of the country's finest, fastest, most fearless skydivers will flock to the Lone Star State to push their aerial skills to the limit and compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in six spectacular skydiving...

Recording artist Kelly Clarkson Tuesday announced plans for a North American concert tour this fall. Joining Clarkson on her All I Ever Wanted tour will be the Australian sister duo The Veronicas and the up-and-coming band Parachute, 19 Recordings LLC/RCA Records said in a release. The concert series is slated to begin Oct. 2 in Uncasville, Conn., and to end in Hollywood, Fla., Dec. 13, covering 32 U.S. and Canadian markets. Steve Moore of MEG/AEG Live Nashville will promote the bulk of...

U.S. space agency and industry engineers say they've completed the first test of the Ares I rocket's three main parachutes -- the largest ever manufactured. National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials said the parachutes are designed to slow the rapid descent of the rocket's spent first-stage motor, permitting its recovery for use on future flights. The Ares I, the first rocket in NASA's Constellation Program, is designed to launch explorers aboard the Orion crew capsule on...

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., May 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA and industry engineers successfully completed the first test of the Ares I rocket's three main parachutes Wednesday. The parachutes -- the largest rocket parachutes ever manufactured -- are designed to slow the rapid descent of the rocket's spent first-stage motor, permitting its recovery for use on future flights. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The Ares I, the first rocket in NASA's Constellation...

NASA and industry engineers successfully completed the first test of the Ares I rocket's three main parachutes Wednesday. The parachutes -- the largest rocket parachutes ever manufactured -- are designed to slow the rapid descent of the rocket's spent first-stage motor, permitting its recovery for use on future flights.The Ares I, the first rocket in NASA's Constellation Program, is designed to launch explorers aboard the Orion crew capsule on journeys to the International Space Station, the...

A Nevada man said he celebrated his upcoming 80th birthday by skydiving with 11 friends at Boulder City Municipal Airport. Al Masters, 79, whose 80th birthday is coming up in July, said he and his entourage, most of whom he knew from the Legacy Golf Club, plummeted 15,000 feet during their May 3 tandem jumps at the airport's Las Vegas Skydive, the Las Vegas Sun reported Thursday. The soon-to-be octogenarian said he was by far the oldest person on the skydiving trip -- the second oldest...

SANTA ANA, Calif., April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Airborne Systems Group, which has combined the world's leading parachute brands specializing in aerial delivery, rescue and survival equipment, and engineering services, today marked the 90th anniversary of the historic parachute jump by Leslie Irvin, who later pioneered an entire parachute industry. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090419/LA98771) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071210/LAM094LOGO) Born near Los...

NASA and U.S. Air Force test pilots have just dropped a 50,000-pound "dummy" rocket booster on the Arizona desert--and stopped it before it crashed.It's all part of NASA's plan to return to the Moon."NASA's new Ares moon rocket is going to have a reusable booster stage that we plan to recover after each mission," explains James Burnum of Marshall Space Flight Center. "To 'catch' the booster before it crashes back to Earth, we need a super-reliable parachute...

Drogue Parachute Passes Second Key Test for the NASA Program MINNEAPOLIS, March 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK), the prime contractor for the first stage of the Ares I launch vehicle, along with NASA, the U.S. Army, and the United Space Alliance (USA), successfully conducted the second in a series of four Ares I drogue parachute drop tests. These tests are for the development of the deceleration system for the Ares I First Stage booster. The test was conducted...