Felix Baumgartner completes supersonic jump, sets record!!

[via Milky Way Scientists]

“Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner landed safely on Earth after a 24-mile jump from the stratosphere in a dramatic, daring feat that may also have marked the world’s first supersonic skydive.

Baumgartner came down in the eastern New Mexico desert minutes after jumping from his capsule 128,097 feet, or roughly 24 miles, above Earth. He lifted his arms in victory shortly after landing, sending off loud cheers from jubilant onlookers and friends inside the mission’s control center in Roswell, N.M

It wasn’t immediately certain whether he had broken the speed of sound during his free-fall, which was one of the goals of the mission. Organizers said the jump lasted for just over nine minutes, about half of it in free-fall.

Three hours earlier, Baumgartner, known as “Fearless Felix,” had taken off in a pressurized capsule carried by a 55-story ultra-thin helium balloon. As he exited his capsule from high above Earth, he flashed a thumbs-up sign, aware that his feat was being shown on a live-stream on the Internet.

During the ensuing jump from more than three times the height of the average cruising altitude for jetliners, Baumgartner was expected to hit a speed of 690 mph.

He activated his parachute as he neared Earth, gently gliding into the desert east of Roswell.

Coincidentally, Baumgartner’s attempted feat also marked the 65th anniversary of U.S. test pilot Chuck Yeager successful attempt to become the first man to officially break the sound barrier aboard an airplane.”

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