Astronaut on His Way to the Top of Everest

Astronaut Scott Parazynski woke up and shoved off from the last stop before the Summit of Everest – the High Camp – at about 10:45am ET – 8:30pm on Everest. He and his IMG teammates will climb through the night toward the summit, and assuming all goes well, will be there for a dawn that can only be topped…from space I suppose. If he makes it, Scott will be the first and only human to see a sunrise from orbit and from the highest point on Earth.

I spoke with Keith Cowing, who is helping Scott get his story out, back at Everest base Camp at about 10:30am ET. He says there is a medical emergency on the mountain now, which might – or might not – delay Scott  (who is a physician in addition to being an astronaut).

As it stands right now, Scott should be on the summit at about 7pm ET tonight- or 4:45am/May 20 on Everest. Stay with me here…and follow the adventure as well on the following twitter feeds: @milesobrien @keithcowing @SPOTScott.

Scott’s blog is at http://onorbit.com/everest

And perhaps the coolest thing: Scott is carrying a SPOT Satellite Messenger Device – which will provide real-time tracking data on his location. Follow him there at http://www.SPOTAdventures.com

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