Felix Baumgartner aims to make history today as the first person to achieve supersonic speed in free-fall.
As if that weren't enough, he will be starting his descent from higher than anyone else has ever ascended in a manned balloon flight: 120,000 feet, or 23 miles above the Earth.
The daredevil's jump comes after years of preparation and delays, and replete with a full array of high-tech gear, from the 2,900-pound "space capsule" slung under a 550-foot-tall (at launch) helium balloon that will carry him aloft in an approximately 2-hour ascent, to the custom-made full-pressure suit that will protect him from the very real dangers of the thin and frigid air.
Sensors in a chest pack will log all the relevant data for vetting by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, the body that governs air sports and aviation records. Gear in the pack includes GPS tracking device, inertia measurement unit, HD camera, and voice transmitter and receiver.
Baumgartner's team, Red Bull Stratos, is live-streaming the jump, which is taking place in the vicinity of Roswell, N.M. You can watch it here, starting at about 5:30 a.m. PT / 8:30 a.m. ET:
