Fall 24 miles to Earth with Felix Baumgartner in new space-jump video
What’s it like to fall to Earth from 24 miles up in the stratosphere? Only Felix Baumgartner knows for sure -- but a new video takes you along for his record-breaking ride.
On Oct. 14, 2012, the Austrian skydiver stepped off the narrow porch of an experimental capsule hovering 127,852 feet over New Mexico and became the first free-falling person to break the sound barrier. Instruments recorded his top speed at 843.6 miles per hour, which is 1.25 times faster the speed of sound.
The stunt was pulled off with the help of Sage Cheshire Inc. and other Southern California aerospace companies. As my colleague W.J. Hennigan reported, these firms are anticipating commercial space travel and want to know whether passengers can safely bail out from stratospheric heights. Energy drink maker Red Bull funded the mission, to the tune of millions of dollars....