The jump, which began 24 miles (38 kilometers) above the ground, ended in the New Mexico desert. After a successful landing, Baumgartner threw up his arms as a sign of victory; the gesture drew a standing ovation from those cheering for him at the Roswell control center.

At the time of landing, neither Baumgartner himself nor the control center yet knew if Felix had managed to surpass the speed of light. However, the importance of the deed was already visible to the naked eye. Some three hours ago, Fearless Felix left a special capsule, lifted up by an ultra-thin balloon filled with helium. At that time, Baumgartner was at an altitude three times higher than that at which jet airliners usually travel.

One hour after takeoff, Baumgartner, who had climbed 63,000 feet, performed a test sequence of "jump" movements. After that, the ballast was dropped and the helium balloon accelerated sharply.

The first difficulties awaited Felix already at the exit from the capsule - one careless touch to its walls could easily damage his protective suit; any rupture of the suit would instantly lead to serious problems with oxygen - not to mention the fact that the outside air temperature at that time reached -70 degrees. The impact of such a hostile environment could literally destroy the brave jumper - his liquid own body could form deadly bubbles.

Fortunately, Felix left the capsule without any problems; there were no problems further, in the process of the fall. Baumgartner opened his parachute just before the ground.

Interestingly, Baumgartner made his unique jump exactly 65 years after the American test pilot Chuck Yeager first developed supersonic speed in an airplane.

About 30 cameras watched Baumgartner's jump. The live broadcast actually lagged behind reality by almost 20 seconds.

Among those helping Baumgartner was Joe Kittinger, who was trying to reach supersonic speed in a jump from 19.5 miles back in 1960. Kittinger at one time only managed to accelerate to 614 miles per hour.

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Felix Baumgartner has been walking towards the set record for 5 years. He has already jumped twice in this area - in March he climbed 15 miles, in July - 18 miles. Baumgartner said that this record will end his career as an extreme jumper; he is not going to make more jumps.

The protective suit worked as well as it could; according to Jonathan Clark, the medical director of the operation, it was the suit that saved Baumgartner from the shock waves that occurred when the sound barrier was crossed. Even before the jump, there were rumors that if the operation was successful, NASA would be interested in the new spacesuit; now that Baumgartner has successfully landed, interest in the suit has only increased.

Sponsored by Felix Baumgartner's Jump Energy Drink Producer " Red bull"; by the way, they were provided with surveillance cameras installed on the capsule, on a special helicopter and on the ground.

In the future, Baumgartner plans to move to a more or less sedentary lifestyle; however, the extreme will not leave his life completely - he is going to fly helicopters for various rescue and firefighting operations. Felix is ​​going to work as a lifeguard both in the USA and in Austria (Austria).

Yesterday, October 14, the Austrian extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner made a long jump from a height of 38 km. To carry out this risky jump, the parachutist climbed into the stratosphere to an unprecedented height in a capsule attached to a balloon, setting a world record. After jumping down, he flew for over four minutes in free fall and broke the sound barrier, breaking the speed record. At an altitude of 7 km, Felix opened his parachute and landed safely on Earth.

It is worth saying that if Baumgartner had not been able to stabilize his body position during the fall, he could have lost consciousness and did not open the parachute. It was also unknown how the human body would react to the overcoming of its body at supersonic speed. Baumgartner had been preparing for his jump for five years.

(Total 22 photos + 1 video)

1. Baumgartner leaves the capsule in which he was sitting awaiting the ascent, October 9, 2012 The mission was postponed due to strong winds. (Balazs Gardi / Red Bull Content Pool / Handout / Reuters)

2. Baumgartner sits in the stratospheric balloon capsule on October 9, 2012 (Joerg Mitter / AFP / Getty Images)

3. Felix Baumgartner at the launch site in New Mexico on October 9, 2012 (Joerg Mitter / AFP / Getty Images)

4. Felix Baumgartner stands on the tarmac after a canceled flight on October 9, 2012 (Red Bull Stratos via Getty Images)

5. Baumgartner prepares for historic flight, October 14, 2012 (Jorg Mitter / AFP / Getty Images)

6. Baumgartner exits the trailer and heads for the capsule to make an ascent into space, October 14, 2012 (Balazs Gardi / AFP / Getty Images)

7. Baumgartner sits in his trailer before the flight, October 14, 2012 (Jorg Mitter / AFP / Getty Images)

8. Stratostat with a capsule in which Baumgartner ascended into space. New Mexico, October 14, 2012 (Predrag Vuckovic / AFP / Getty Images)

9.Felix Baumgartner climbs into the capsule before ascending into the stratosphere, October 14, 2012. (Balazs Gardi / AFP / Getty Images) #

10. An image of Baumgartner is broadcast on a large screen at the Mission Control Center in Roswell, New Mexico, USA, October 14, 2012. (Stefan Aufschnaiter / AFP / Getty Images)

11. Capsule for ascent into the stratosphere, Roswell, New Mexico. (Joerg Mitter / AFP / Getty Images)

12. The capsule in which Baumgartner is to ascend into space awaits its pilot, Roswell, October 9, 2912. (Joerg Mitter / AFP / Getty Images) #

13. Baumgartner exits the trailer to land in the stratospheric balloon on October 9, 2012. (Joerg Mitter / AFP / Getty Images)

14. Baumgartner prepares for flight October 6, 2012. (Red Bull Stratos / Balazs Gardi / Handout / Reuters)

15. Baumgartner prepares for flight October 6, 2012 (Red Bull Stratos / Balazs Gardi / Handout / Reuters)

16. Baumgartner examines his capsule, Roswell, October 9, 2012 (Joerg Mitter / AFP / Getty Images)

17. Felix Baumgartner examines his capsule, Roswell, October 9, 2012 (Joerg Mitter / AFP / Getty Images) Baumgartner's stratospheric balloon test, July 25, 2012 (Predrag Vuckovic / Red Bull via Getty Images)

21. Baumgartner prepares for flight October 6, 2012. (Red Bull Stratos / Balazs Gardi / Handout / Reuters)

22. Felix Baumgartner sits in a stratospheric balloon capsule, October 5, 2012. (Balazs Gardi / AFP / Getty Images) #

On October 14, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner made a jump from the stratosphere from a height of 39 kilometers and landed successfully in New Mexico. The data on the speed of his flight is still being specified, but most likely he became the first person to overcome the sound barrier without special devices. In addition, the 43-year-old Austrian has broken three world records: the highest parachute jump height, the highest falling speed and the highest manned balloon flight.

This was the most important and last jump. Fearless Felix decided to retire. Now he intends to fly in helicopters: the Austrian will help firefighters and rescuers. After all, what else is there for someone who already has a million Likes on Facebook? At the same time, by the way, here is the answer to the question: how to get a million likes on your page? It's very simple: jump with a parachute from a height of 40 kilometers. There will be no end to the fans.

Baumgartner put seven years of his life into this leap. All participants in the project knew that he was taking a great risk: the organizers of the live broadcast, according to some reports, were reporting with a 20-second delay - in case something tragic happened to Baumgartner. The video was shown on 40 TV channels in 50 countries around the world, and despite this, another eight million people watched what was happening on YouTube. The cameras showed his mother Eva, who seemed to be crying throughout the broadcast. He himself, upon returning to the sinful land of the state of New Mexico, said: “How tiny and humble I felt when I stood there, on the edge of the earth! At such a moment it is impossible to think about records, about new scientific data. if you want it is to come back alive. "

The first attempt, scheduled for Tuesday October 9th, was canceled due to strong winds. Finally on Sunday a giant, pumped up with helium balloon the height of a 55-storey building went up. Baumgartner sat inside a capsule attached to a balloon. About 30 video cameras were installed on it. Those who watched the live broadcast could see him calmly checking the equipment inside the capsule. When the balloon reached a height of 39 thousand meters, the parachutist left it. He was wearing a special pressure-control suit that was almost a spacesuit in terms of its parameters. The white figure hovers against the background of a black space that can hardly be called the sky. It looked very impressive and very scary.

For the first 90 seconds, Felix was out of touch with the ground. For about 10-20 seconds he tried to stop the frenzied spin, and according to him, it was hell: “You never know if you can take control of this spin or not. Of course it was wildly scary. because I knew that at some point I would put the situation under control. " The question was that he did not want to open the stabilizing (braking) parachute - that would mean that he would not break the record for the longest free fall. Baumgartner was counting on himself. The risk was great, but the record beckoned, and the jump was announced as the last - no second chance was foreseen.

As a result, Felix coped with the rotation, although it was not easy for him. Even the day before, as the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung writes, it was not clear to the end what could happen to the human body if something went wrong at such a height: the suit could not withstand the temperature drop "overboard", the blood would boil, brain. Even "ordinary" loss of consciousness from overloads could well end in death. According to preliminary data, the speed of a freely falling person at a certain stage exceeded 1340 kilometers per hour (for example, the cruising speed of Boeing-767 and Airbus A-320 is about 900 kilometers per hour). And there is not much time to think and to try to fix the situation: it only seems that there is to fly and fly, but in fact, Baumgartner covered the distance of more than 39 kilometers in less than 10 minutes (of which 4 minutes and 20 seconds - in free fall). Some do not even have time to smoke in such a time.

The data on his speed are now being verified, this is also important in order to firmly establish whether he really became the first person in the world to break the sound barrier not on an airplane or in a spacecraft, but without any technical means... The fact is that the speed of sound in air, generally speaking, depends on temperature (the dependence on pressure, for example, for sound waves, can be neglected). It takes time to carry out these calculations, but the world's newspapers unanimously passed their verdict: "Yes, I did."

Despite all the efforts and intentions not to open the parachute until the last moment, Felix failed to break the achievement of 50 years ago - the record for the duration of the longest free fall. It was installed in 1960 by the American military pilot Joseph Kittinger. He jumped from a height of 31 thousand 300 meters, developed a speed of about 988 kilometers per hour and was in "free fall" for 4 minutes 36 seconds (276 seconds). The record is considered universally recognized, although the main agency for this part, the International Aeronautical Federation (FAI), does not recognize it: Kittinger "flew" with an open brake parachute.

The record with an unopened parachute was set two years later by the Soviet tester Yevgeny Nikolaevich Andreev: on October 1, 1962, he and his partner Pyotr Dolgov made a jump from the Volga stratospheric balloon from a height of 25,500 meters. Andreev fell, without opening the parachute, 24 thousand 500 meters. Thus, his "free fall" at a speed of about 900 kilometers per hour lasted 270 seconds. It turns out that, if you do not take into account Kittinger's controversial achievement, the Austrian did not break the record set by the Soviet parachutist - Baumgartner flew without a parachute 10 seconds less than Andreev.

The Soviet test partner Dolgov died during the experiment. The reason was an accident: after the ejection, he hit his helmet against the skin of the stratospheric balloon gondola. There was a small crack, but because of it the air immediately went out and the parachutist's blood boiled. The opening dome lowered his body to the ground, and the testers watching the decline did not even know that he was dead. Andreev lived for almost 40 more years, was repeatedly engaged in tests and died in 2000 in the village of Chkalovsky, Moscow Region. Andreev and Dolgov were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Kittinger is now 84 years old, and he was very active in the Baumgartner project. Throughout the flight, the veteran and record holder was the only person who kept in touch with the parachutist. It was under his leadership that the flight was being prepared, he was one of the main consultants. Baumgartner told reporters that Kittinger was needed by the team precisely in order to try to break his record. And this fact alone, he added, speaks of what knowledge and what courage the researchers possessed in the 1960s.

Baumgartner himself can not be denied courage and ingenuity: in 2003 he became the first person to fly the English Channel on carbon wings designed by him. In 2008, he leapt from the tallest building on the planet, the 509-meter Tower 101 in Taipei City, Taiwan. He also owns the record in jumping from the most great height: he managed to jump from the 29-meter statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro - the statue, of course, is famous in the world for its gigantic dimensions, but it is rather small for skydiving.

The record-breaking flight was sponsored by Red Bull, the maker of the popular energy drink. According to some reports, she paid about 50 million euros for this project, but the company did not make an official statement. The capsule in which Baumgartner went to conquer the stratosphere bore the inscription Zenith, but this gesture was not at all a tribute to one of the most famous Soviet spacecraft. The Austrian acted as an envoy of the watch company of the same name, and now its website has a proud inscription: it was our model that became the first watch to break the sound barrier in the outer space. And although it comes about an obvious coincidence, the Zenith inscription on the capsule looked quite symbolic.

The media that set records, but on October 14, Baumgartner made a real revolution: while he was falling from the stratosphere, the word jump (English jump) came across in more than half of all tweets on the planet and the parachutist for the first time managed to displace the hashtag "Justin Bieber" (#justin bieber ) from the first place in the top. For this, perhaps, it was worth fighting for.

“Over the past 50 years, mankind has done a lot - we have been to the moon,” says Felix Baumgartner. "So it is curious why a person has not yet exceeded the speed of sound without help vehicle"The Austrian skydiver intends to challenge such statistics and become the first person in history to reach supersonic speed in free fall. In 2003, Felix flew on wings through the English Channel, a carefully planned event, during which his lone human figure glided high above the water. Since then, Felix has been obsessed with achieving supersonic speed, and together with a group of the world's leading scientists, engineers and doctors, he wants to make history and push the boundaries of aviation research.

Felix was born on April 20, 1969 and raised in Salzburg, Austria, where from an early age he preferred individual views sports such as boxing, rock climbing and motocross are team sports. However, Felix's main dream was flying. He dreamed of skydiving and helicopters. So as soon as he turned 16 (the minimum age allowed for skydiving in Austria), he went to a local club. “From the first second I realized that skydiving was my element,” he recalls.

Felix honed his skydiving skills while serving in the Austrian military. “I loved being faced with an unusual situation,” he recalls. “I liked that you can be in the city in the evening, and just a few days later you are alone in the desert, without water or food. The situation changed every week, and it had to be dealt with. " The young recruit found his niche when he joined the Special Forces Parachute Group, where he acquired more sophisticated skills, including landing precision and piloting skills, that still help him pinpoint landing sites. In addition, he notes that: “serving in the military also helped me a lot, as I learned how to lead groups and organize people from different countries and cultures ”.

After passing military service, Felix made a living by repairing motorcycles (“I like speeding,” he laughs). Later, in 1988, the local Salzburg parachute club was visited by representatives of the young local company Red Bull for a skydiving show. The Company's out-of-the-box thinking and Felix's adventurous spirit complemented each other well. Since then, they have been cooperating for many years.

By 1990, Felix felt like he had already tried everything in traditional skydiving and he added BASE jumping to his arsenal of possibilities. He learned the basics from Tracy Walker, a base jumping pioneer who moved to Germany. Finally, Tracy told Felix about Bridge Day, the official international base jumpers event, held on the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia. “I took all my money, went to see, and realized that this is what I wanted,” says Felix. A year later, he won the overall Bridge Day Championship.

“Everyone felt: yes, this is his sport,” recalls Felix. Today, the number "502" tattooed on his back indicates that he is the 502nd person recognized by the official body of base jumping - the American Base Jumping Association, founded by Carl Benish. To get a personal number, the jumper must jump from all four “classic” BASE objects (Building - a building, Antenna - an antenna, Spun - a bridge, Earth - a rock). Later he developed his own logo, defended copyright, formalized documents, and founded his company under the brand "502".

On the threshold of the new millennium, Felix became a recognized expert, and, what is characteristic, he strives to do what no one else had done before him. In 1999, his jump from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia set a new world record for the “highest” base jump from a building. To do this, he had to put on a business suit, and in the guise of a businessman to get through the security and air conditioning system of the Malaysian tower "Petronas Twin Towers" (451 m). 88 floors of free fall and landing on the roof of the parking lot. Of course, for the "502" they staged a pursuit of law enforcement officers, but the successful Baumgartner disappeared. In the same year, he successfully jumped from the statue of Christ the Savior (38 m) in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Firing an arrow from his crossbow, Felix fastened the rope to right hand statues and at dawn made a jump from the index finger of the stone statue. Baumgartner had only 29 m. This became a new record, but already the "lowest" base jump.

In 2004, Felix set another world record, becoming the first person to base jump from the tallest support in the world, from the Millau bridge in France (1,125 feet). And when the world's tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101 (1,667 feet), was built in Taiwan, he jumped off of it too.

Baumgartner spent a whole year preparing for the jump. The parachute was hidden in one of the toilet stalls. Felix spent about a week waiting for the necessary wind. Finally, when everything was ready, a real special operation unfolded. A group of hired Taiwanese teenagers distracted the attention of the public with an incendiary break dance, and two assistants - the guards of the observation deck. Baumgartner made his way unnoticed to her fence and jumped down. Unfortunately, he was unlucky - he fell on the platform, which was located 4 floors below, and severely bruised his knee. Nevertheless, Felix found the strength to rise and complete the jump. Extreme opened his parachute at the 5th second of the flight and successfully landed in a nearby parking lot, from where he safely disappeared in a taxi. Within 2 hours, he was sitting in the seat of a flight to Hong Kong.

Always looking for new sensations, Felix landed with a parachute even in the 623-foot deep Marmet Cave in Croatia. However, to date, Felix's most outstanding achievement remains his flight across the English Channel without an engine and without an aircraft. Since this required the development of a special carbon dioxide-filled wing, the project took three years to prepare. When Felix jumped out of the plane 32,808 feet above Dover, UK on July 31, 2003, he was protected from extreme weather (minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit) with only a specially made jumping suit and helmet. Attached to its back were a six-foot wing, an oxygen tank, and a parachute. Despite the difficulties that impeded his free movement, Felix reached a speed of 220 miles per hour, after which he switched to a "cruising" speed of about 135 miles per hour and completed the 22-mile flight to Calais, France in just six minutes. After landing, record holder Felix Baumgartner made a classic statement for the BBC: “You are absolutely alone. There is only you, your equipment, your wing and your skills. And I like it. "

After crossing the English Channel, Felix was constantly looking for new sensations. Like every serious aviator and skydiver, he was familiar with the incredible achievement of Joe Kittinger and knew that in half a century no one could break Joe's altitude record for free fall. Felix decided not only to try to do this, but also to try to exceed the speed of sound. “To jump from the highest height is great, but for me the most big record“This is undoubtedly the first person to exceed the speed of sound in free flight,” comments Felix.

“Real passion and dedication pushes the boundaries even wider and makes the impossible: Felix fits perfectly with our brand vision,” says Dietrich Mateschitz, founder of Red Bull. And now, in 2010, Felix Baumgartner will take part in a dangerous mission on the border with space. It was his self-discipline, courage, physical and mental endurance, technical knowledge and determination that became invaluable qualities in the preparation of the Red Bull Stratos mission. The estimated jump height is 36.5 km.

Felix is ​​preparing for this mission similar to serious training test pilots and astronauts, he took a crash course in aeronautics. “We listened carefully to what the experts said, but since we designed this mission from scratch, sometimes we had to go back to the blueprint stage,” he says. “For me, the best plan is to find out as much as possible in a short period of time so that I can take into account the information of all our scientists and doctors and make sure that I understand it. But at a certain moment you have to get up, put a parachute on your back and say: "Let's do it!"

Felix readily admits that he is intimidated when doing crazy projects, but, according to him, he only begins to feel real anxiety a few hours before the jump. “The night before, you think: if something goes wrong, this is your last night,” he admits. “But at the same time, it's part of the job. In any mission like this you need a little luck, but most of all you need skills and preparation. On the appointed day there will come a moment when no one can help you except yourself. "

In preparation for the Stratos project, Felix was constantly between Salzburg and Los Angeles, but, in his words, "I feel at home in the air." And wherever he is, he still uses the formula that supported him twenty years ago: a mix of diverse experiences. In many parts of Europe, Felix Baumgartner is a household name; his name can be found on the Alley of Champions in Vienna, he has been nominated for a World Sports Award and two nominations for the NEA Extreme Sports Awards. He is also a Distinguished Representative and Sponsor of the Nonprofit Research Foundation spinal cord Wings for Life. However, in the rest of the world, the extreme star is still relatively unknown.

On the threshold of his fortieth birthday, Felix is ​​living another childhood dream: he received the rights to operate a private helicopter in the USA and Austria and to fly commercial in Europe. “There are a lot of difficulties with helicopters: it takes years to become a good pilot,” he said in English with a slight accent. “I try to throw myself into every possible situation: for example, I learned to fly in the mountains in Canada, and in five years I hope to become a firefighter, then fly for movies, and then maybe be a rescuer in the mountains. This will be the second part of my life. "