Skydiver Baumgartner breaks record for highest freefall

In this article, Felix Baumgartner broke the record for the highest freefall ever recorded. Yesterday, Baumgartner went up 128,100 ft (24 mi) in a US helium balloon over New Mexico. It took nine minutes for him to reach the ground at an estimated 833.9 mph. "On the step, I felt that the whole world is watching," Mr Baumgartner said after the jump. "I said I wish they would see what I see. It was amazing." The capsule which the skydiver fell from was equipped with cameras to provide a live internet feed. More than 8 million people viewed the live stream on YouTube, the largest number of concurrent live streams in the website's history. "We congratulate Felix Baumgartner and the entire Red Bull Stratos team for their successful mission, and for creating a live stream with the most concurrent views ever on YouTube," BBC the company said on their blog. After a weather delay of several hours, he set off at 9:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. ET) Sunday from Roswell, New Mexico, in breezy, clear conditions, strapped into a pressurized capsule that hung from a giant helium balloon. It took two hours to reach his target altitude. After running through a 40-step checklist, Baumgartner opened the door of the capsule and climbed out onto a step before falling "Guardian angels will take care of you," said Mission Control just before Baumgartner jumped. "The whole world is watching now," he responded. He then jumped and about three minutes in, he reported, "My visor is fogging up." Then he began to spin, sending blood to rush to his head and leave him out of control. "There was a period of time where I really thought, 'I am in trouble,' " Baumgartner said, recalling how he considered pushing a button that would have released a chute to stabilize his position and to attempt to break the sound barrier. "But after a couple of seconds, I had that feeling I'm getting it under control. And I did," he added. "And that's why I broke the speed of sound today." After free-falling for about four minutes and 20 seconds, he deployed a parachute for the last mile down to Earth. "There's the chute," said a specialist in Mission Control, and the control room broke into applause. As soon as Baumgartner landed, he dropped to his knees and raised his fists. The team at Mission Control in Roswell burst into applause. His survival was no guarantee. Baumgartner's life depended on his pressure suit. The temperature when he jumped was expected to hit 70 degrees below zero Fahrenheit and the atmosphere was so thin that his blood would have vaporized if he wasn't protected by the suit. The outfit had sensors and recorders to measure everything from his speed to his heart rate. Sunday's successful jump breaks Col. Joe Kittinger's record set in 1960. Kittinger fell from 102,800 feet as part of a U.S. Air Force mission. Kittinger acknowledged the ups and downs of the years-long effort. He said Baumgartner "did perfect," and all the others involved in making the mission a success. "It was a team effort, and Felix did a fantastic job," he said. "It was an honor for all of us to work with this brave guy."
 
Australian Felix Baumgartner as he  Baumgartner after he successfully lands.
jumps out of a capsule on Oct. 14.

This image provided by Red Bull Stratos shows pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria as he jumps out of the capsule during the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos, Oct. 14, 2012.