WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Austrian skydiving expert Felix Baumgartner scripted history on Tuesday, October 14, by not only making the highest jump mankind has ever seen but also reached another milestone in aerospace exploration - by breaking the speed of sound in the freefall.
In the record-breaking event, dubbed the Red Bull Stratos mission, Baumgartner jumped from a helium balloon in the stratosphere from an altitude of nearly 39 km (128,097 feet), breaking the 52-year-old record set by U.S. Air Force Colonel Joe Kittinger. The balloon was launched at 9:31 am local time in Roswell, New Mexico.
It took about 2 hrs 30 min for Baumgartner to ascend the daring height after which he made the supersonic freefall jump, at a speed of about 833.9 miles per hour, which lasted about 4 minutes and 19 seconds, before he opened his parachute and landed safely near Roswell, New Mexico.
The Red Bull Stratos mission had aimed to break the following milestones:
. The record held by Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather for the highest manned balloon flight . The record held by Joe Kittinger for making the freefall from the highest altitude (110,000 ft) . The record held by Joe Kittinger for reaching a peak velocity of 614 mph in the freefall, which was 90% of the speed of sound and . The record held by Joe Kittinger for the longest freefall time (4 minutes and 36 seconds).
However, in today's epic event, barring the record for the longest freefall time, the other three records have been surpassed by Baumgartner.
It was exactly on this day in 1947 did Chuck Yeager retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot became the first man to break the sound barrier flying in an experimental rocket-powered airplane. Now, with the completion of the Red Bull Stratos mission, Baumgartner becomes the first person to break the speed of sound during freefall without the aid of an aircraft.
Note that the speed of sound, or Mach 1, is equal to 768 miles per hour.
Baumgartner's Red Bull Stratos mission aims to provide valuable medical and scientific research data which will contribute to the understanding of survival in space.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX