One giant leap for a skydiver: Daredevil leaps 13 miles

With New Mexico 13.6 miles below,
daredevil skydiver Felix Baumgartner needs some space-age help before he
even thinks about jumping.

At
the edge of space, with virtually no atmosphere, the pressurised suit
and oxygen are vital as he contemplates the view from the capsule
attached to his 100ft helium balloon.

This,
however, is merely a test run. He plans to try a world record jump from
23 miles above the Earth this summer. The record is 19.5 miles.
Scroll down to see the amazing jump





New heights: Felix Baumgartner is practicing for his upcoming record-breaking jump from 23 miles in the air

Mr Baumgartner lifted off on Thursday for a
test jump from Roswell, New Mexico, aboard a 100-foot helium balloon.
He rode inside a pressurized capsule to 71,581 feet - 13.6 miles - and
then jumped.
He parachuted to a safe landing, according to project spokeswoman Trish Medalen.
‘The
view is amazing, way better than I thought,’ Mr Baumgartner said after
the practice jump, in remarks provided by his representatives.
Thursday's rehearsal was a test of his capsule, full-pressure suit, parachutes and other systems.
A mini Mission Control - fashioned after NASA's - monitored his flight.




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Mr
Baumgartner reached speeds of up to 364.4 mph Thursday and was in free
fall for three minutes and 43 seconds, before pulling his parachute
cords. The entire jump lasted eight minutes and eight seconds.
With
Thursday's successful test, Mr Baumgartner is believed to be only the
third person ever to jump from such a high altitude and free fall to a
safe landing, and the first in a half-century.
‘I'm now a member of a pretty small club,’ he said.


When
the 42-year-old Austrian known as ‘Fearless Felix’ leaps from 120,000
feet in a few months, he expects to break the sound barrier as he falls
through the stratosphere at supersonic speed.
There's
virtually no atmosphere that far up, making it extremely hostile to
humans, thus the need for a pressure suit and oxygen supply.




Support team: Mr Baumgartner (left), seen here
with engineer Mike Todd, is also being assisted by the man whose record
he is attempting to break

The record for the highest free
fall is held by Joe Kittinger, a retired Air Force officer from Florida.
He jumped from 102,800 feet - 19.5 miles - in 1960.
Mr Baumgartner is out to beat that record.
He
plans one more dry run - jumping from 90,000 feet - before attempting
the full 120,000 feet. The launch window opens in July and extends until
the beginning of October.
For comparison, commercial jets generally cruise at over 30,000 feet.
Mr
Baumgartner has jumped 2,500 times from planes and helicopters, as well
as some of the highest landmarks and skyscrapers on the planet.




Determined: Mr Baumgartner has done thousands of jumps throughout his life












Dry run: On Thursday, Mr Baumgartner did a practice version over Roswell, New Mexico

Among his conquests: the Christ the
Redeemer statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro, the Millau Viaduct in
southern France, the 101-story Taipei 101 in Taiwan.
He's also plunged deep into the Earth, leaping face-first into a pitch-dark cave in Croatia.
Mr
Baumgartner considers that 620-foot-deep cave jump his most dangerous
feat so far, soon to be outdone by his stratospheric plunge.
His mission takes its name, Red Bull Stratos, from the stratosphere as well as the energy drink-maker sponsor.
‘I
like to challenge myself,’ Mr Baumgartner told The Associated Press in a
recent interview, ‘and this is the ultimate skydive. I think there's
nothing bigger than that.’
He's
caught NASA's attention, even though space officially begins much
higher at an even 100 kilometers, 328,084 feet or 62 miles.
There
are no hard feelings between Mr Kittinger and the man who is out to
break his record, however, as Mr Kittinger is now 83 and one of Mr
Baumgartner's chief advisers.

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