Jumping off from 71,581 feet (13.6 miles) up

On 15th March 2012, Felix "Fearless Felix" Baumgartner, 42, of Austria, went inside a pressurized capsule which was then carried up by a 100-foot helium balloon.

When it reached an altitude of 71,581 feet (13.6 miles) above New Mexico, he jumped off, reaching speeds of up to 364.4 mph, and was in free fall for 3 minutes 43 seconds, before pulling his parachute cords. The entire jump lasted 8 minutes 8 seconds.

He is believed to be only the 3rd person ever to jump from such a high altitude and free fall to a safe landing, and the first in half a century.

His next target, to be done this summer: jumping off from 120,000 feet (23 miles) up - thereby breaking the 52 year old record by Joe Kittinger, who jumped from 102,800 feet (19.5 miles) up in 1960. At that altitude, as he falls, Baumgartner expects to break the sound barrier: 343 meters per second, 768 mph or 1,235 km/h.

In comparison, commercial jets usually fly at 30,000 feet, and the Boeing 747-400, the most common passenger version in service, and among the fastest airliners in service, cruises at a mere 570 mph or 920 km/h.

The ultimate skydive

A typical parachute jump / skydive involves individuals exiting an aircraft (usually an airplane, but sometimes a helicopter or even the gondola of a balloon), at anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 meters (3,000 to 13,000 feet) altitude.

At 7am on 16th August 1960, Colonel (then Captain) Joseph Kittinger stepped off from a balloon-supported gondola at an altitude of 102,800 feet. In freefall for 4.5 minutes at speeds up to 714 mph (another report said 614 mph - 90% the speed of sound) and temperatures as low as -70C, he opened his parachute at 17,500 feet.

He landed safely in the New Mexico desert 13 minutes and 45 seconds later.

More than 50 years later, his altitude world record still stands.

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Photo: US Air Force