14 DAY TRIAL // Plans for the historic, supersonic freefall jump scheduled to take place this week, have been further delayed.
The weather is the culprit this time around, the team doesn't want a repeat of what happened on Tuesday and has said that the first launch opportunity is on Sunday.
That's not to say Felix Baumgartner will jump from 36.5 km, 120,000 feet on Sunday, but that will be the first chance to have the weather needed for the balloon launch, i.e. perfectly still, winds above 2 mph, 3.2 km/h are enough to derail the launch.
The problem is with the balloon, the largest ever built, which acts as a sail while it's being inflated. Any gust of wind, even a mild one, will exert huge pressure on the balloon and threaten to rip the very fragile material it's made out of.
On Tuesday, a 40 km/h gust spun the top of the balloon, stressing the material. The balloon held, but the team could not know if its strength had been affected and did not risk a launch.