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Red Bull via Reuters
Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria exits his capsule.
"We love you Felix!" screamed the crowd as he plunged through the stratosphere.
His body pierced the atmosphere at speeds topping 700 miles per hour, appearing to achieve another of his goals: to become the first skydiver to break the speed of sound, according to the project website. He sped toward Earth on the 65th anniversary of legendary American pilot Chuck Yeager's flight shattering the sound barrier on Oct. 14, 1947.
-- Reported by Reuters
Watch the full video of his jump at ITV News.
Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Stratos via Getty Images
Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria, left, and Technical Project Director Art Thompson of the Unites States celebrate after successfully completing the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos on Oct.14, in Roswell, N.M. Austrian Felix Baumgartner broke the world record for the highest free fall in history after making a 23-mile ascent in a capsule attached to a massive balloon.
Balazs Gardi / Red Bull Stratos via EPA
Felix Baumgartner of Austria lands in the desert.
Vedat Xhym@!$%#i / Zuma Press
Felix freefalling.
Red Bull Stratos via Getty Images
Felix Baumgartner of Austria jumps from the capsule.
Red Bull via Reuters
Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria exits his capsule.
Ross Franklin / AP
The capsule, bottom left, and attached helium balloon carrying Felix Baumgartner lifts off.
Ross Franklin / AP
Felix Baumgartner's mother Ava Baumgartner, middle, watches with other family members and friends as his capsule lifts off.
Ross Franklin / AP
The capsule and attached helium balloon carrying Felix Baumgartner begins to lift off.
Joerg Mitter / AFP - Getty Images
Pilot Felix Baumgartner before the flight.
Red Bull Stratos via Reuters
Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria sits in his trailer before the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, N.M.
Ross Franklin / AP
As the sun rises, workers prepare at the launch site ahead of an attempt by Felix Baumgartner to break the speed of sound with his own body by jumping from a space capsule lifted by a helium balloon.
As Fearless Felix jumped from 24 miles above the earth on Sunday, the mission-battered Endeavor crawled the streets of Los Angeles. NBC's Matt Taibbi reflects on the significance of both.
Leave a Comment:
Congrats Felix! Keep dreaming BIG!
Here is the entire video . . Provided by the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19943194
That is why they make chocolate and vanilla...
for some reason i find this incredibly boring...
Doesn't say or show how he was brought up to that height for the jump. What took the capsule up that high?
Doesn't say or show how he was brought up to that height for the jump.
Just reading the headlines are we. Go look at the photos again.
Totally jealous
john - i read the complete article, it does not say. Photos show his capsule with the parachute extended, but nothing on how he got up that high.
I'm not a smart man, but it does show a balloon filled with helium attached to his capsule so one could assume that is how it reached that height. I don't know though. Could have been witchcraft.
The capsule, bottom left, and attached helium balloon carrying Felix Baumgartner lifts off.
The REAL Silver Streak!
I bet when they itch he has to reach down to his knee to scratch.
Come on, he's not that old.
lol
Wow - That was really amazing to watch the free fall. Have to give it to him the guy has guts. If it was just a quick trip up that would be one thing - but he had to wait over 2 hours in that capsule before the moment of free fall.
That free fall surf down to earth was something pretty amazing to watch.
I watched it live and it was one of the most impressive things I've seen in a long time. I know he was having some issues with his visor heater but decided to go none the less. The whole process was incredible to watch, starting with the checklist while he depressurized the capsule. The door did not open right away because of the pressure. My hats off to this guy and his crew! He was spinning pretty good before he regained control and I thought for sure that he would lose consciousness......finished it off with a perfect standing landing!
I agree.....it was amazing...able to see it live on Discovery Channel...so glad it all turned with his safe landing...the spin was frightening...I wonder if he develops a headache or vertigo or something brain related just because of the repeated spin over and over...I hope they do a great exam and continue collect data on him...for science and medicine...WOW!!!!!!
Yea, it was even better if you did watch the whole 2 hour buildup. My son and I watched the whole thing, and some of the rest of the family just watched the dive itself on replay. They all liked the dive, but Chris and I had a better appreciation for it after following the whole thing.
It was great - there are so few 'records' left to set, and it also is a great salute to Joe Kittinger - it's been 52 years and they still were only able to break 3 out of 4 of his records. It was great to see Joe involved, and a very exciting way to spend a Sunday. :)
Incredible!!!!!!!
Call Guinness World Records for the next record category. The worlds biggest pair. Felix, that was freaking awesome...
awesome! you are the man!
One of the coolest things I've seen in a long time.
IF he had been a AF pilot or NASA this would have been science. But, he was private, so it is a daredevil trick! But, have you noticed that more space effort that is meaningful is financed by private industry! NOT government bloated agencies.
The man jumping and the Red Bull company are both Austrian… This had nothing to do with the US, look of the Austrian school for economics and it will make sense… A True free market, not this keynesian economics, endless printing crap.
CHEERS to you Felix..that was unbelievable..nerves of steel with that guy. I watched it also..really none of it was live..was a 20 second delay feedback ( in case of bad problems).
I notice the timing of the free fall part and he opened his chute to early under 4 minutes 36 seconds....I think he did that so his mentor Joe Kittinger will still hold that record for longest free fall time of 4 minutes 36 seconds from back in 1960.
He did break three of the four records he wanted..highest manned balloon flight, breaking the sound barrier with just his body and the farthest free fall (not the longest free fall though time wise..he just missed that one by a few seconds).
I'm not sure..but I think he did that tumbling on the free fall to get the longest time record..but wasn't enough.
When I was watching Felix spinning seemingly out of control, I honestly thought he had died but it was awesome to see him go back to stable and complete the dive perfectly. I only wised he would have pulled a little lower so he could have gotten the longest freefall but three all time records at one time is incredible.
Oh, almost forgot, jstdawayitis...please take your hater posts to a site that cares.
Dumb, dumber and dumbest. That's what Felix is. What was the point? Ooooo, so they can study the effect the atmosphere had on his body? Oh, yeah, that's going to help the starving children of the world, or find a cure for cancer or make the world a better place. What a waste of human intelligence.
Don't you dare give him a piece of your mind! You'll need all you have to find your A** with both hands.
Ray Kroc said, "when you're green you're growing, when you're ripe you rot. Artsylady is ripe.
artsylady, how dare you splurge your money on a computer when their are starving children of the world. How dare you waste your time posting on this article that will have no effect when you can use your time aiding the homeless or making the world a better place. Of course, I guess we should just stop reaching for personal goals until every mouth is fed right?
Everybody needs a hobby. Some people are awesome and demonstrate the best humanity has to offer, and others are idiots on the internet. But to each his own, you know?
I have to agree to. This is honestly a self serving stunt. No point to jumping what so ever other than to say "Hey everyone, look at me". And don't give me that BS that he does not care about fame or glory. If not, why would they advertise this like crazy for the last two weeks???
Thanks for nothing!!!
So, are you posting from a remote village in Afghanistan or Africa, where you're making the world a better place? Enjoying the latte?
ArtsyLady, you're a tool. So you care alot about starving children and other things. That doesn't mean everyone cares about starving children and other things.
Do what you can with what you got. And try not to preach about it.
Amazing feat. I wonder where the balloon and capsule landed and how that was controlled...
Can someone explain me how he broke the speed of sound if the video I watched the top speed was 729 mph?
The speed of sound varies by atmospheric pressure. For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately 343 m/s, 1,125 ft/s, 768 mph, 667 knots, or 1,235 km/h.
The higher the altitude ( less dense air ) the lower the speed needed to reach speed of sound.
Atmosphere temperature also affects speed of sound..actually the more I think about it..it should be the ONLY variable on the speed.
when you're bored, want attention, and have more money to spend than some countries have to live on.
... He got his name from Fraggle Rock. Don't believe me. Look it up.
Could never do it, I'm afraid of heights.
So, this is what the American space program has come down to, so rich dud, with too much money, and too much time on his hands, doing a stunt, sad man.
It was all done by private companies… The man who jumped and the sponsoring Red Bull company are both Austrian, this had NOTHING to do with the US's nonexistent space program.
The only point to this that I can see is that it establishes a practical protocol if manned missions are returning in trouble. Otherwise I agree with artsylady above, sure it's a private project, but kind of a waste of money that could have been better spent on health or education. Rich people obviously have too much money these days.
I don't know if the technology developed for this jump would have saved a few of the space shuttle astronauts on Challenger as it was found later they lived through much of their fall after the explosion of their rocket, but certainly might have helped. That has been the point of this research since Joe did his jumps for the Air Force in the early 60's when we were doing suborbital flights in the Mercury mission. I don't know how you say that this is a stunt. I guess it is but Felix is sort of a modern day test pilot for space safety in my view and this technology will help find ways to build suits that would survive an accident at a high altitude during launch or reentry although I think reentry would be tough with the speeds and heat experienced. Still it is good research and a help that may save lives in the future. Amazing to watch...just amazing and shows there is technology to build suits that will survive the pull of gravity and speeds up to 800 mph. Amazing..if your bored with this...as some have said here...I feel sorry for you.
He went up in a balloon. I didnt even know balloons could go that high. Is there anyway a shuttle could ever be ballooned up into space, or close to it. Amazing jump though.
Mach 1.2 and freefall from 126,720 feet. Look at the curvature of the earth when he jumped. All I can say if WOW!
Well if it was missed-whatever happened to the balloon after his descent ?
Forgive me but I found this boring ! What a waste of resources, technology and a possible life.