Red Bull Stratos: Mission Accomplished
Austria's Felix Baumgartner earned his
place in the history books on Sunday, 14 October 2012. He has landed safely
with his parachute in the desert of New Mexico after jumping out of his space
capsule at 39,045 meters and plunging back towards earth, hitting a maximum of
speed of 1,342.8 km/h.
The 43-year-old Austrian skydiving expert
also broke two other world records (highest freefall, highest manned balloon
flight), leaving the one for the longest freefall to project mentor Col. Joe
Kittinger.
After flying to an altitude of 39,045 meters
(128,100 feet) in a helium-filled balloon, Felix Baumgartner completed
the record breaking jump for the ages from the edge of space.
Countless millions of people around the world
watched his ascent and jump live on television broadcasts and live streams on
the Internet.
During the freefall, he appeared to spin
rapidly, but he quickly re-gained control and moments later opened his
parachute as members of the ground crew cheered and viewers around the world
heaved a sigh of relief.
Felix Baumgartner and his team spent five years training and preparing for the mission, and he had endured several weather-related delays before finally lifting off under bright blue skies and calm winds on Sunday morning (local time in New Mexico)
HISTORY has been REWRITTEN.
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