BIOS
LUKE AIKINS A professional skydiver with a history of tackling unusual aviation challenges, Luke Aikins is one of the designated Safety and Training Advisors for the U.S. Parachute Association. As the skydiving consultant for the Red Bull Stratos team, Aikins was a key player in designing the training plan that helped Baumgartner learn to skydive within the confines of a full-pressure suit; personally served as a test subject for evaluating the efficacy of parachute, GPS and face plate systems; and spearheaded development of Baumgartner’s personal parachute rig and drogue system. FELIX BAUMGARTNER With a passion for expanding boundaries, especially in the air, Felix Baumgartner devoted seven years of his life to preparing for and executing the jump from the edge of space that on October 14, 2012 made him the first person to break the speed of sound in freefall. Already a world-record-setting skydiver and BASE jumper even before undertaking the Red Bull Stratos mission, the Austrian native is licensed to pilot gas balloons as well as private and commercial helicopters and was also the first person to complete a freefall flight across the English Channel wearing a carbon wing (2003). He is the winner of the Bambi Award (Germany) and FAUST Adventurer of the Year (Japan); has been nominated for TIME’s Man of the Year, a World Sports Award (twice), and two categories in the NEA Extreme Sports Awards; and is honored on Vienna’s Street of Champions. JONATHAN CLARK, MD, MPH One of the most distinguished figures in aerospace medicine, Dr. Jonathan Clark is a six-time Space Shuttle crew surgeon who served in top roles at Johnson Space Center. He currently teaches at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical Branch. In the leadership role of Red Bull Stratos medical director, Clark worked to protect the health of Felix Baumgartner and to establish new safety protocols for future aviators and astronauts. He continues to lead the mission’s medical team in analysis of physiologic data and dissemination of the findings for the benefit of the aerospace community.
Red Bull Stratos Scientific Summit
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