October 14, 2012

Live: Felix Baumgartner tries space jump again


1:18PM EDT October 14. 2012 - IMPORTANT: The live stream of Felix Baumgartner's space jump is below. If that's all you care about, scroll down.Baumgartner will once again attempt to break the world record for the highest, and fastest free fall in history on Sunday, Oct. 14.

Update: The mission is in progress.

WAIT, WHAT THE HECK? Everything you need to know about Felix Baumgartner's space jump

During his fall from 23 miles up in space he would break the speed of sound. He will do this with the help of a 3000-pound capsule and a high-tech suit.

The best part: You can watch the space jump from this live stream.For background on the project, read this feature on Felix Baumgartner from USA TODAY's Marco R. della Cava. Here's a snippet:

The jump was postponed on Monday and Tuesday because of unexpected winds. Baumgartner has been working his way up to this world record jump from the edge of space for the past few years, twice running into speed bumps.

Austrian promoter Daniel Hogan derailed the first mission when he sued Red Bull Stratos -- the Austrian energy drink that is sponsoring Baumgartner's attempt – claiming he'd thought of the idea first. That suit was settled out of court last summer.

The other hiccup was more serious. Unaccustomed to freefalling while confined by a helmet and cumbersome suit, Baumgartner started suffering panic attacks and pulled himself off the project. He overcame his fears with the help of a sports psychologist.

"It was simple stuff," Baumgartner told USA TODAY in August after making his final test jump -- from nearly 100,000 feet -- outside the desert town of Roswell, N.M. "I'd put on a helmet and tell him, from one to 10, how panicked I felt. And in the end, no matter what the number was, he told me my pulse rate never changed. So it was all in my head."

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