Skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped into the record book when he successfully landed in the eastern New Mexico desert just minutes after he ascended from his capsule 128,097 feet, or roughly 24 miles above earth.
Baumgartner completed a record-breaking feat to be the world's first supersonic skydive who jumped from a helium balloon and plunged for 4 minutes, 20 seconds, reaching a maximum speed measured at 833.9 mph before landing down in the eastern New Mexico desert. As he lifted his hands in victory upon his landing, the anxiously awaiting friends, family, team members and other onlookers - both on the scene and online, erupted in cheers inside the mission's control center in Roswell, N.M.
Initially, engineers considered aborting the mission as his face plate began fogging but Baumgartner insisted that they go ahead with the mission. Known to his fans as Fearless Felix, the jumper went on to break the altitude and speed records set half a century ago by Joe Kittinger, who was a part of the new mission.
"It was harder than I expected," Baumgartner told the New York Times. "Trust me, when you stand up there on top of the world, you become so humble. It's not about breaking records anymore. It's not about getting scientific data. It's all about coming home."
The mission had more than two-dozen cameras, scored a record for social media, and nearly 7.3 million watched it on Youtube.
Baumgartner accomplished the mission with the help of a 100-strong backup team that includes retired U.S. Air Force colonel Kittinger, who held the record for highest freefall jump until Sunday.
Baumgartner also holdsother records such as his great leaps from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
