Felix Baumgartner works in the air over the Perris, Calif. desert where he jumped from a plane at 26,000 feet in order to test the chest pack and full pressure suit. Red Bull Stratos is a mission to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere, where upon reaching altitude of 120,000 feet by helium baloon, pilot and basejumper Felix Baumgartner will then freefall to the ground in an attempt to break the speed of sound.
ZUMApress.com
2 of 10
3 of 10
Red Bull Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria prepares to exits the capsule before his jump during the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico.
Getty Images
4 of 10
Red Bull, The balloon ascends during the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico. In this test he reach the altitude 21800 meters (71500 ft) and landed safely near Roswell. Red Bull Stratos is a mission to the edge of the earths atmosphere, where upon reaching altitude of 120,000 feet by helium baloon, pilot and basejumper Felix Baumgartner will then freefall to the ground in an attempt to break the speed of sound.
Getty Images
5 of 10
Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria seen on his way to the capsule during the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico.
EPA
6 of 10
Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria and life support engineer Mike Todd of the United States seen during the egress training for Red Bull Stratos, a mission to the edge of space to break the speed of sound in freefall in Lancaster, California on February 23, 2012.
EPA
7 of 10
Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria and USAF colonel (ret.) Joe Kittinger of the United States presenting the capsule for Red Bull Stratos, a mission to the edge of space to break the speed of sound in freefall. The Red Bull Stratos science team has confirmed that the capsule delivering Austrian sportsman Felix Baumgartner to the edge of space for his record-breaking freefall attempt is mission ready. Attached to a helium balloon, the capsule which took five years to develop and weighs 1,315 kilograms fully loaded will act as Baumgartner’s life support system during his nearly three-hour ascent to 36,000 meters.
EPA
8 of 10
Felix Baumgartner jump from a helicopter to land by parachute on Scandinavia’s highest residential building, Turning Torso, seen at bottom right, in Malmo, Sweden on Aug 18, 2006.
AP Photo
9 of 10
Austrian extremist parachutist, Felix Baumgartner cross the English Channel from England and France without a power souce aided only with a carbon fibre wing spreading 1,8 meters he jumped at 10000 metres above Dover and flew the 18 miles to Calais free fall, landing there with a parachute on July 31, 2003. Felix achieved the feat 94 years after Luis Bleriot first crossed the Channel with an aeoroplane.
EPA
10 of 10
U.S. Air Force, Col. Joe Kittinger steps off a balloon-supported gondola at an altitude of 102,800 feet. In freefall for 4.5 minutes at speeds up to 614 mph and temperatures as low as -94 degrees Fahrenheit, he opened his parachute at 18,000 feet on Aug. 16, 1960. Skydiving daredevil Felix Baumgartner is more than halfway toward his goal of setting a world record for the highest jump. He’s aiming for nearly 23 miles in the summer. The record is held by Kittinger, a retired Air Force officer. He jumped from 19.5 miles in 1960.
AP
