Felix Baumgartner jumps from space breaking 3 records (video)
8 million people watched the jump of the Austrian daredevil on October 14 live in the Internet.
The Austrian parachutist made his jump from the stratosphere at the second attempt. He rose up to 39 kilometers in a purpose-built capsule beneath a giant helium balloon in the evening on October 14. On his way to the Earth, the Fearless Felix broke the sound barrier: he was falling at the speed of 1137 kilometers per hour in the vacuum. This is the record free fall speed.
He also smashed the records for the highest manned balloon flight (39 km is three times higher than the passenger jets fly) and the highest skydive. Before Baumgartner, this record belonged to the American officer Joseph Kittinger. He jumped from the height of 31 kilometers 300 meters back in 1960.
There were some problems during Baumgartner's jump. As he fell to Earth, Baumgartner complained that his visor was steaming up before he pulled his parachute cord. However, he managed to land accurately. The jump lasted for 4 minutes and 20 seconds.
