Sunday A Man Is At The Edge Of Space And Jumps

I've often wondered what it would be like to jump out of a perfectly good running airplane with a parachute strapped to my back. If I ever did, I'm sure I would go with the kind that open as you exit the aircraft instead of the 'free falling' method. I am somewhat of a daredevil, but I do have my limits.

But here's a guy who goes way beyond any normal person's limitations. He is 43 year old Felix Baumgartner. He broke a 52 year old skydiving altitude record and he also broke the sound barrier with his jump on Sunday. To some, you may say this is insane.

He jumped out of a space capsule 128,100 feet above the Earth. Baumgartner accelerated to 833.9 mph reaching Mach 1.24 and breaking the sound barrier, also a new record. He became the first person to travel at supersonic speed without being inside a jet or spacecraft.

He breaks even another record for the highest manned balloon flight rising to a height of nearly 25 miles. You know you've gone beyond all limits when you start breaking world records of various kinds.

His jump lasted just over 9 minutes and half of it was in free fall. And Baumgartner had pull the ripcord on his parachute earlier than planned.

Baumgartner said that when he was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you do not think about breaking records anymore, you do not think about gaining scientific data, the only thing you want is to come back alive.

Landing on his feet in the desert, the man known as "Fearless Felix" lifted his arms in victory to the cheers of jubilant friends and spectators who closely followed his descent in a live television feed at the command center.

Baumgartner spent 7 years preparing for this jump.