As my colleague John Tierney reports, Felix Baumgartner, a former Austrian paratrooper, made the highest and fastest jump in history on Sunday, after ascending by a helium balloon to an altitude of 128,100 feet.
Stepping from a capsule tethered to the balloon, the daredevil plunged to Earth, reaching a maximum speed measured at 833.9 miles per hour, or Mach 1.24, becoming the first human to break the sound barrier under his own power, before opening his parachute.
The jump was broadcast on live television and streamed on a one-minute delay on YouTube, where it was watched by millions of viewers. A 90-second highlight reel, which includes images shot from the sky-diver's suit, was posted online by the sponsor, the Austrian energy drink company Red Bull.
The Guardian uploaded video of the entire four-and-a-half-minute jump, taken from the live broadcast.
Although the total cost of the Red Bull Stratos project was not revealed, it was believed to be somewhat more than the $400 two Canadian teenagers spent to send a Lego man bearing a Canadian flag about 80,000 feet above the Earth's surface in January.
