Too Much of a Good Thing

Austrian Skydiver Gets Ready For The Ultimate Plunge

By Meera Dolasia on 02/13/2012

In August 2012, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner will attempt a feat that has never been done before - freefall off a specially made capsule from the edge of space - 120,000 feet (23 miles) above earth or about three times the altitude that normal airplanes fly at.

Thanks to the lack of atmospheric pressure, his initial plunge down will be so swift that he is expected to break through the sound barrier within the first 35 seconds of his leap - This means that he will be coming down faster than the speed of sound which at that altitude is about 690 miles per hour. Felix will continue to freefall until he reaches 5,000 feet, at which point, he will open his parachute and glide back gracefully to his designated landing spot in New Mexico.

While the entire epic skydive is expected to take only 10 minutes, it has been in planning for over two years. That's because unlike normal skydives, this one needs a lot of special equipment, starting from the mode of travel, to a special suit and even, a custom parachute.