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 h...