Skydiving
Looking Back at Red Bull Stratos
Felix Baumgartner made history on Oct. 14, 2012, breaking 50-year-old records as he plunged to Earth from the edge of space. How did he do it?
Where: Roswell, New Mexico
When: Oct. 14, 2012
How: After two aborted attempts earlier in the week, Felix Baumgartner and Red Bull Stratos' Mission to the Edge of Space was given the go-ahead by meterologists for its latest world-record-breaking attempt on Sunday, Oct. 14. In front of a global audience of millions who watched the mission live, Felix took off, ascending to a height of 24.5 miles (128,000 feet) in a stratospheric balloon. As the door on the capsule opened and cyberspace held its collective breath, Felix stepped out onto the porch (more about that later) said a few Hail Marys and then dropped. After accelerating to a top speed of 834.5mph during a freefall of 4m 19s, Felix deployed his parachute and, just like a pro, landed confidently on the ground as if nothing had happened. Records that had stood for more than 50 years had been toppled — and a new bar set for the highest number of live views on YouTube — as well as a wealth of scientific research gathered in human exploration of space.
3 min
Mission Accomplished!
Highlights from Red Bull Stratos, Felix Baumgartner's record breaking jump from the edge of space.
Favorite Quote: While standing outside the capsule and observing the curvature of the Earth, Felix admitted, quite naturally that, "when you're standing on top of the world, you don’t think of records any more, all you think is that you want to come back alive."
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Unusual Fact: The balloon, which when fully inflated was approximately 55 stories high and which transported Felix all the way up to 128,000 feet, was constructed of strips of high-performance polyethylene film which were only 0.0008 inches thick — that’s 10 times thinner than a plastic sandwich bag!