Red Bull Daredevil Almost Canceled Fall From Space Due To Anxiety
The mental battle behind the amazing spectacular
“By this time he was sitting on the floor of the airport and crying. His sponsor, the Red Bull energy drink company, had spent untold millions employing dozens of engineers, physiologists, and technicians for three years on the project and he was failing them all. His daredevil career was over. ‘Fearless Felix’ had finally succumbed to the power of bad.” — The Power Of Bad, John Tierney & Roy F. Baumeister
In 2012 if you had walked through the L.A. International Airport you would have seen an interesting sight — a man sitting on the floor crying. Who was this man? The man happened to be Felix Baumgartner, one of the greatest daredevils who ever lived.
According to Wired Magazine, this former paratrooper had conducted over 2500 jumps. Not your average jumps, mind you. Jumps off of various crazy structures, such as Petronas Towers and the Taipei 101 skyscraper. He was also selected to make the most audacious jump any human being had ever attempted.
Baumgartner was in training to do the Red Bull Stratos jump. He would ride in a capsule carried by an ultra-light balloon 24 miles into the stratosphere. At the specified height, he’d jump and fall to earth for 5 and a half minutes…
