Skift Take
Baumgartner's accomplishment will be remembered for quite some time, but Red Bull's rapid ascendency to the top of the outdoor and adventure sector has happened in near-record time.
Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner landed safely on Earth after a 24-mile jump from the stratosphere in a dramatic, record-breaking feat that may also have marked the world's first supersonic skydive.
Baumgartner came down in the eastern New Mexico desert minutes after jumping from his capsule 128,097 feet, or roughly 24 miles, above Earth. He lifted his arms in victory shortly after landing, sending off loud cheers from jubilant onlookers and friends inside the mission's control center in Roswell, N.M.
It was the highest-ever jump for a skydiver, though it wasn't immediately certain whether Baumgartner had broken the speed of sound during his free-fall, which was one of the goals of the mission. Organizers said the descent lasted for just over nine minutes, about half of it in free-fall.
Three hours earlier, Baumgartner, known as "Fearless Felix," had taken off in a pressurized ca
