Pretty Amazing

For those who may find this interesting, Felix Baumgartner has begun his ascent to 120,000 feet:

"ROSWELL, N.M. — Felix Baumgartner, the professional daredevil, took off for the stratosphere on Sunday, lifting off in an enormous helium balloon that smoothly carried him through the critical first 4,000 feet — called the Dead Zone because it would be impossible to parachute to safety.

He reached 40,000 feet after 34 minutes and planned to ascend to more than 120,000 feet — 22 miles above the New Mexico desert — where he hoped to make the highest jump in history and become the first sky diver to break the speed of sound. The ascent should take at least two hours........

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/us/felix-baumgartner-skydiving.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Red Bull, the sponsor is running a live feed on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/redbull/stratos
I tried to open the typical YouTube window but apparently since it is a live feed, it can only be accessed through the above link.

They are running this with a 20 second delay just in case of an emergency.

I have the feeling he's going to be dead daredevil.

Will there be a sonic boom?

I am watching it right now. He will hit 120,000 ft in about 5 minutes.

Sonic boom? Since man has never done this before, they really don't know but speculation is that there will be a small sonic boom - from all that I have read.

The boom will be his body exploding!

The guy just landed. Fell for over 4 1/2 minutes at over 720 MPH.

Didn't make the sound barrier but that's still hauling ass.

Bravo!

Amazing!

The BBC will finish compiling a movie on the entire feat and they project it being ready within about 30 days.

I watched it on-line. Didn't check to see if it was on TV.

[b]"Felix Baumgartner has traveled faster than the speed of sound, achieving Mach 1.24 — 833.9 miles per hour. He did so after falling from 128,120 feet above sea level. This means Baumgartner is the first human being to travel faster than the speed of sound without being inside a craft.

“It’s hard to descriube because I didn’t feel it,” said Baumgartner when asked what it felt like to go that fast.Being in the suit, continued Baumgartner is “like being in a cast.”...............

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/felix-baumgartner-tries-record-breaking-jump-again-live-blog/2012/10/14/b7ddfc18-159d-11e2-be82-c3411b7680a9_blog.html?wpisrc=al_national