Spacejump: Redbull’s extreme athlete hopes to break the speed of sound

In a few minutes (or hours, or days… weather permitting) Felix Baumgartner will attempt a space jump. He will jump from a height of 120 000 feet, breaking the world record for the highest jump ever. This jump is called a space jump because at that height you are technically in space.

“Jumping from a stratospheric balloon, one man will attempt to break the speed of sound in free fall,” says the site.

The jump is a part of the Red Bull Stratos mission.

Together with a team of aerospace experts, Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner is ready to rise to the challenge of the Mission Red Bull Stratos. His aim is to jump from a balloon in the stratosphere from an altitude of 36,576 meters (120,000 feet) and perform a record-breaking freefall. Baumgartner wants to become the first person to break the speed of sound without the protection of an aircraft while simultaneously collecting data never obtained before for the advancement of medical science.

Baumgartner is an experienced BASE jumper and has jumped from many of the world most spectacular locations.

1% of people watching Red Bull Stratos are watching for Science. 99% are watching because they think they might see someone die.

— Harry (@KillHollywood) October 9, 2012

The jump has built up a fair amount of hype on social media and is being streamed live on Redbull’s YouTube page as well as on the Redbull Stratos homepage.

If Baumgartner successfully does this jump he will break the record set by United States Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger who jumped from 102 800 feet in 1960.

Update (14 October):

Baumgartner has successfully returned to the ground — the capsule passed the 128 000 feet mark before the jump. He also broke the record for the highest manned balloon flight at over 113 740 feet. The livestream attracted more than 8-million simultaneous viewers.

[Hat Tip: Geeklist]