• Home
  • Mail
  • Flickr
  • Tumblr
  • News
  • Sports
  • Finance
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Answers
  • Groups
  • More
Yahoo
    • Skip to Navigation
    • Skip to Main Content
    • Skip to Related Content

    Daredevil makes record-breaking jump

    •October 15, 2012
    • Austrian parachuter Felix Baumgartner, who goes by the code name "Base 502," jumps from the arm of the Christ the Redeemer statue atop Corcovado mountain, overlooking Rio de Janeiro December 1. It is the first-ever known base-jump made from the site. In base-jumping, which is illegal in most countries, parachutists jump from buildings, bridges and earth points like rocks, and the parachute is only pulled open at the very last moment. Baumgartner camped out overnight at the site and used a high-tech crossbow to shoot over the arm of the 30-meter-high statue to climb up. The statue and mountain are located 747 meters above sea level. Reuters
    • Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner celebrates after his successful freefall across the English Channel between Dover and Calais, July 31, 2003. After jumping out of a plane at 9000 metres (29,500ft) above Dover in southern England, wearing only an aerodynamic jumpsuit with a 6ft (1.8m) carbon fin strapped to his back, oxygen to breathe, and a parachute to land, Baumgartner landed safely in Calais after an eight-minute flight on Thursday, becoming the first person to skydive across the English Channel. REUTERS/Bernhard Spoettel
    • Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner is seen after jumping from a transport plane above Dover at the start of his freefall across the English Channel between Dover and Calais, July 31, 2003. Baumgartner jumped out of a plane at 9000 metres (29,500ft) above Dover in southern England on Thursday, wearing only an aerodynamic jumpsuit with a 6ft (1.8m) carbon fin strapped to his back, oxygen to breathe, and a parachute to land, and landed safely in Calais after an eight-minute flight, becoming the first person to skydive across the English Channel. REUTERS/Helmut Tucek
    • This image provided by the Euro-Newsroom agency shows Austrian base jumper Felix Baumgartner leaping off the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan Tuesday Dec. 11, 2007. Baumgartner leapt from the 1,676 foot (509 meters) tall building Tuesday after evading security and having to clear a barrier before being able to make his leap. (AP Photo/Bernhard Spoettel, Euro-Newsroom)
    • This image provided by the Euro-Newsroom agency shows Austrian base jumper Felix Baumgartner leaping off the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan Tuesday Dec. 11, 2007. Baumgartner leapt from the 1,676 foot (509 meters) tall building Tuesday after evading security and having to clear a barrier before being able to make his leap. (AP Photo/Joerg Mitter, Euro-Newsroom)
    16 / 25

    Skydiver

    Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner is seen after jumping from a transport plane above Dover at the start of his freefall across the English Channel between Dover and Calais, July 31, 2003. Baumgartner jumped out of a plane at 9000 metres (29,500ft) above Dover in southern England on Thursday, wearing only an aerodynamic jumpsuit with a 6ft (1.8m) carbon fin strapped to his back, oxygen to breathe, and a parachute to land, and landed safely in Calais after an eight-minute flight, becoming the first person to skydive across the English Channel. REUTERS/Helmut Tucek

    Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner plummeted into the record books Oct. 14,

    breaking the mark for highest-ever skydive after leaping from a balloon

    more than 24 miles above Earth's surface — a benchmark that has lasted more than half a

    century.