Skydiving
Relive the moment when Red Bull Stratos went to the edge of space
Felix Baumgartner made history on October 14, 2012, breaking 50-year-old records as he plunged to Earth from the edge of space. How did he do it?
Where: Roswell, New Mexico
When: October 14, 2012
How: After two aborted attempts earlier in the week, Felix Baumgartner and the Red Bull Stratos Mission to the Edge of Space was given the go-ahead by meterologists for its latest world-record-breaking attempt on Sunday, October 14. Baumgartner took off, ascending to a height of 39km/24.5 miles (128,000ft) in a stratospheric balloon.
As the door on the capsule opened, he stepped out onto the porch, said a few Hail Marys and then dropped. After accelerating to a top speed of 1,342.8kph (834.5mph) during a freefall of 4m 19s, Felix deployed his parachute and landed confidently on the ground as if nothing had happened.
Broken records: The Austrian became the first human to break the sound barrier without engine power during the feat and also broke the records for highest manned balloon flight and highest altitude jump.
Live views: 9.5 million people viewed it live on YouTube.
3 min
Mission Accomplished!
Highlights from Red Bull Stratos, Felix Baumgartner's record breaking jump from the edge of space.
Favourite quote: While standing outside the capsule and observing the curvature of the Earth, Baumgartner admitted that, "when you're standing on top of the world, you don’t think of records any more, all you think is that you want to come back alive."
Unusual fact: The balloon, which when fully inflated was approximately 55 storeys high and which transported Felix all the way up to 128,000ft, was constructed of strips of high-performance polyethylene film which were only 0.0008in (0.0002mm) thick – that’s 10 times thinner than a plastic sandwich bag!
