What lifted the capsule that Felix Baumgartner rode some 24 miles into the stratosphere before his historic jump this week?
Felix Baumgartner Felix Baumgartner Felix Baumgartner (; born 20 April 1969) is an Austrian skydiver, daredevil, and BASE jumper. He is best known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon in the stratosphere on 14 October 2012. Doing so, he set world records for skydiving an estimated , reaching an estimated top speed of , or Mach 1.25. He became the first person to break the sound barrier without vehicular power relative to the surface on his descent. He broke skydiving records for exit altitude, vertical freefall distance without drogue, and vertical speed without drogue. Though he still holds the two
Felix Baumgartner the first person to jump from the 91st floor observation deck of the then-tallest completed building in the world, Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan. In January 2010, it was reported that Baumgartner was working with a team of scientists and sponsor Red Bull to attempt the highest sky-dive on record. On 15 March 2012, Baumgartner completed the first of 2 test jumps from . During the jump, he spent approximately 3 minutes and 43 seconds in free fall, reaching speeds of more than , before opening his parachute. In total, the jump lasted approximately eight minutes and eight seconds and