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A French balloonist plans to freefall from 130,000 feet later this year.

An important difference between a jump from a balloon and bailing out from an incoming spacecraft is that the balloonist's airspeed when they bail out would be pretty close to zero, not some multiple of the speed of sound.

The current world record stands at 102,800ft. Here's a pretty good story on it, though I've seen a documentary which was better. Both a Frenchman and an Australian have plans to go higher, but havn't managed it yet(as far as I know).

It looks like there are a couple of people just crazy enough to try it!

One claims to be planned for "March 2002". Seeing as we haven't heard either splat or cheer, I don't know what the current status is.

The other appears to be currently scheduled for April 2003.

This
picture shows Col. Kittinger jumping out of the gondola. This has to be one of the most incredible pictures ever taken...

here's some more ...

Actually, there are two people (that I know of) that are going after Col Kittinger's record. Cheryl Stearns and Rodd Millner are both involved in independant efforts to break this record in the near future. As they prepare with modern technology, the wonder of Kittinger's jump almost a half-century ago seems even more incredible.

mC

There is an American effort underway, briefly mentioned in both articles, that seems more likely to succeed. Cheryl Stearns, a world-record parachutist, will descend from 130,000 feet (or possibly higher) in Project Stratoquest. They've been working for about two years now, and have performed several practice jumps to test equipment configurations. In fact, the Stratoquest attempt has been covered on Slashdot twice before.

Millner will have an opportunity, of course, to surpass her record by going second (assuming either survives). He will also definitely be the new Australian record holder. What his presence in this competition shows is a new interest in stretching the limits of our capabilities in this area, and that's good.

Is either Millner or Stearns disrespectful of the 1960 record of Col. Kittinger? No. Stearns shows an excellent series of photos of the Kittinger jump as part of her team's website. The Millner story has been circulating but only through secondary journalistic sources, so we have no way of knowing whether he has said anything about Kittinger. No matter what, both efforts seek to slam Kittinger's record into history by surpassing it. By five or six miles, maybe as many as ten miles.

By any measure, that isn't something that's "already been done", and the posts to that effect were all unnecessarily snarky. (I notice there were snarky posts in the earlier threads as well.) Millner and Stearns know the history of their sport just as much as, well, Linus Torvalds knows the history of operating systems. They're building on what was done before.
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There is an American effort underway, briefly mentioned in both articles, that seems more likely to succeed. Cheryl Stearns, a world-record parachutist, will descend from 130,000 feet (or possibly higher) in Project Stratoquest. They've been working for about two years now, and have performed several practice jumps to test equipment configurations. In fact, the Stratoquest attempt has been covered on Slashdot twice before.

Millner will have an opportunity, of course, to surpass her record by going second (assuming either survives). He will also definitely be the new Australian record holder. What his presence in this competition shows is a new interest in stretching the limits of our capabilities in this area, and that's good.

Is either Millner or Stearns disrespectful of the 1960 record of Col. Kittinger? No. Stearns shows an excellent series of photos of the Kittinger jump as part of her team's website. The Millner story has been circulating but only through secondary journalistic sources, so we have no way of knowing whether he has said anything about Kittinger. No matter what, both efforts seek to slam Kittinger's record into history by surpassing it. By five or six miles, maybe as many as ten miles.

By any measure, that isn't something that's "already been done", and the posts to that effect were all unnecessarily snarky. (I notice there were snarky posts in the earlier threads as well.) Millner and Stearns know the history of their sport just as much as, well, Linus Torvalds knows the history of operating systems. They're building on what was done before.
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Good luck Cheryl!

PS: I've made my 1000 jump this year and I would die for doing such a looonnngg jump!
The sight must be incredible!