Felix Jumps At 128k feet! Red Bull Stratos

A man fell to Earth from more than 24 miles high Sunday, becoming the first human to break the sound barrier under his own power — with some help from gravity. The 43-year-old leapt from a capsule more than 39 kilometres above the Earth, reaching a top speed of 833.9 miles per hour (1342km/h), or 1.24 times the speed of sound.Baumgartner's descent lasted just over nine minutes, about half of it in a free fall of 119,846 feet, according to Brian Utley, a jump observer from the FAI, an international group that works to determine and maintain the integrity of aviation records. He said the speed calculations were preliminary figures. During the first part of Baumgartner's free fall, anxious onlookers at the command center held their breath as he appeared to spin uncontrollably.The team included retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, who holds three of the records Baumgartner intends to break. Kittinger had made a record jump from 102,800 ft in 1960. The planning process included producing an appropriate suit for the program, finding a location with ideal conditions, and testing out equipment in unmanned test falls. Then, Baumgartner made test falls at smaller heights. In March 2012, Baumgartner made a test fall at 71,614 ft and in July 2012, a fall from 97,063 feet.