It is the ultimate in parachute jumps: from the edge of space, Felix Baumgartner will leap from a balloon, plummeting to the ground 120,000 feet below. Currently preparing in New Mexico, Baumgartner - who has previously made headlines with the lowest base jump ever recorded, off the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and for crossing the English Channel in freefall - was calmness personified as he explained what the incredible leap will involve. He said: "We're going up to 120,000 feet in a pressurised capsule hanging underneath a helium balloon and at altitude the balloon will level off. "I'm going to step off that capsule, fall down for a couple of minutes and hopefully I'm going to break the speed of sound." To be more precise, after 35 seconds he will expect to break the sound barrier, and finally, at 5,000 feet he will deploy a parachute and – hopefully – land safely on the ground. During his 10-minute journey to earth the Austrian will travel at more than 690 miles per hour inside a special suit, which must protect him from temperatures as low as -94 degrees F. He will rely on its oxygen tanks as the air is too thin to breathe – and hope that the sheer force of the fall does not make him blackout. The skydive, which is being sponsored by energy drink manufacturer Red Bull, will attempt to break four world records – the highest altitude freefall, the highest manned balloon flight, the longest distance travelled in freefall and the speed record for the fastest freefall - and is expected to take place in August.
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