First human to break the sound barrier: Watch the Red Bull Stratos space jump live
Felix Baumgartner is about to skydive from the edge of space and go supersonic, something no human has done before. You can watch the events unfold right here.
Credit: Red Bull
It’s set to be one of the most talked about events of the year. On Sunday 14th October, Felix Baumgartner will jump out of a stratospheric balloon at the edge of space, more than 120,000 feet / 36,000 metres above the surface of the Earth (for reference, the official line of space is at 330,000 feet / 100,000 metres). The mission, known as Red Bull Stratos, will see Felix become the first human to ever go supersonic during a free fall and break the sound barrier (estimated to be around 690 miles / 1,110 kilometres per hour for a human).
The current world record for the fastest free fall by a human is held by Joseph Kittinger, who reached a maximum speed of 614 miles / 988 kilometres per hour on 16 August 1960. His record has remained unbroken for over 50 years, but now he’s acting as an adviser for Felix’s attempt to break it.
This incredible supersonic space jump will be viewed around the world, and you can watch the whole thing happen right here. Make sure you let us know your thoughts in the comments below as Felix makes this daredevil skydive, or you can tweet us @spaceanswers (#spacejump).