Felix Baumgartner Completes Supersonic Space Jump, Lands on His Feet!

Daredevil jumped from 24 miles above Earth Sunday

By Brandi Fowler Oct 14, 2012 8:52 PMTags

Felix Baumgartner pulled off the ultimate daredevil feat Sunday when he jumped from a capsule more than 24 miles above the Earth and lived to tell the tale.

Nearly 8 million people watched a portion of the stunt during a live YouTube broadcast.

During the event, the former Austrian paratrooper used a helium-filled balloon to carry him and the Red Bull Stratos capsule into the stratosphere, and then free-fell for over four minutes until he touched down in a New Mexico desert, landing safely on his feet.

Balazs Gardi/Red Bull via Getty Images

It took Baumgartner two hours 21 minutes to reach the height and he reached speeds over 700 mph as he descended.

"It was harder than I expected," Baumgartner reportedly said after his big jump. "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 43-year-old thrill seeker also headed to Twitter to discuss his feat, tweeting, "This is the best day of my life ‪#spacejump ‪#freefall."

Baumgartner broke a 52-year-old free-fall world record with his jump, which was previously set by Air Force test pilot Joe Kittinger in 1960, who held the record of a 19-mile freefall.