Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

SpaceX’s Dragon Splashes Down Safely

The Dragon capsule after splashing down successfully on October 28, 2012. Credit: SpaceX

After leaving the International Space Station earlier on Sunday, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule returned to Earth from the International Space Station, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean about 400 kilometers (250 miles) off the coast of southern California. Inside the capsule are 758 kg (1,673 pounds) of return cargo including hardware, supplies, and a GLACIER freezer packed with scientific samples, including blood and urine samples of the astronauts on the space station, being returned for medical analysis. Currently, Dragon is the only craft capable of returning a significant amount of supplies to Earth, and this mission marks the first time since the retirement of the space shuttle that NASA has been able to return research samples for analysis.

Both NASA and SpaceX were thrilled with the success of the mission.

“This historic mission signifies the restoration of America’s ability to deliver and return critical space station cargo,” said SpaceX CEO and Chief Technical Officer Elon Musk. “The reliability of SpaceX’s technology and the strength of our partnership with NASA provide a strong foundation for future missions and achievements to come.”

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden added his congratulations to SpaceX: “Just a little over one year after we retired the Space Shuttle, we have completed the first cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Not with a government owned and operated system, but rather with one built by a private firm — an American company that is creating jobs and helping keep the U.S. the world leader in space as we transition to the next exciting chapter in exploration. Congratulations to SpaceX and the NASA team that supported them and made this historic mission possible.”

Raw video footage of the Dragon splashing down:

The SpaceX recovery team is now transporting Dragon by boat to a port near Los Angeles, where early cargo will be delivered to NASA. Dragon then will be transported to SpaceX’s facility in McGregor, Texas for processing. There, the remaining cargo will be delivered to NASA.

After a successful test flight in May of this year, this was the first “official” resupply mission for SpaceX to the ISS. The Dragon was launched on October 7 and reached the ISS three days later.

“It was nice while she was on board,” station commander Suni Williams radioed to back to Mission Control after the spacecraft was unberthed Sunday. “Literally and figuratively, there is a piece of us on that spacecraft going home to Earth.”

NASA Video of the Dragon capsule leaving the ISS:

The flight didn’t go with a hitch, however. An anomaly occurred with one of Falcon 9’s first-stage engines during the launch, and while it didn’t affect the mission to the ISS, a satellite that tagged along on the flight, the ORBCOMM OG2 prototype communications satellite, was delivered to the wrong orbit and ultimately fell back to Earth.

SpaceX and NASA are investigating the anomaly and analysis to date supports initial findings: the engine experienced a rapid loss of pressure and Falcon 9’s flight computer immediately commanded shutdown, as it is designed to do in such cases. SpaceX said they will continue to analyze all data in an effort to determine root cause and will apply those findings to future flights.

The next resupply mission for Dragon is tentatively scheduled for January 2013. Additionally, Orbital Sciences Corp, NASA’s second cargo hauler, plans to launch the first Cygnus capsule in February or March 2013.

Dragon floating down on parachutes. Credit: SpaceX

Posted on by Jason Major

Exploded Rocket Fragments Could Endanger ISS and Future Missions

The International Space Station will have to look out for new debris from an exploded Russian rocket (NASA image)

Traveling through low-Earth orbit just got a little more dangerous; a drifting Russian Breeze M (Briz-M) rocket stage that failed to execute its final burns back on August 6 has recently exploded, sending hundreds of shattered fragments out into orbit.

Russia and the U.S. Defense Department (JFCC-Space) have stated that they are currently tracking 500 pieces of debris from the disintegrated Breeze M, although some sources are saying there are likely much more than that.

After a successful liftoff via Proton rocket on August 6 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Breeze M upper stage’s engines shut off after only 7 seconds as opposed to the normal 18 minutes, leaving its fuel tanks filled with 10 to 15 tons of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants. Its payloads, the Indonesian Telkom 3 and the Russian Express-MD2 communications satellites, were subsequently deployed into the wrong orbits as the Breeze M computer continued functioning.

Although originally expected to remain intact for at least another year, the rocket stage “violently disintegrated” on October 16. Evidence of the explosion was first observed by astronomer Robert McNaught at Australia’s Siding Springs Observatory, who counted 70 fragments visible within the narrow field-of-view telescope he was using for near-Earth asteroid observations.

The exact cause of the explosion isn’t known — it may have been sparked by an impact with another piece of space junk or the result of stresses caused by the Breeze M’s eccentric orbit, which varied in altitude from 265 to 5,015 kilometers (165 miles to 3,118 miles) with an inclination of 49.9 degrees.

This was the third such breakup of a partially-full Breeze M upper stage in orbit, the previous events having occurred in 2007 and 2010, and yet another Breeze M still remains in orbit after a failed burn in August 2011.

Most of the latest fragments are still in orbit at altitudes ranging from 250 to 5,000 km (155 to 3,100 miles), where they are expected to remain.

“Although some of the pieces have begun to re-enter, most of the debris will remain in orbit for an extended period of time.”

– Jamie Mannina, US State Department spokesperson

According to NASA the debris currently poses no immediate threat to the Space Station although the cloud is “believed not to be insignificant.” Still, according to a post on Zarya.com the Station’s course will periodically take it within the Breeze M debris cloud, and “will sometimes spend several days at a time with a large part of its orbit within the cloud.”

Source: RT.com and SpaceflightNow.com.  Inset image: the Breeze M (Briz-M) upper stage which disintegrated on Oct. 16. (Khrunichev)

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Soyuz Docks to Space Station with New Crew and 32 Fish

Three new crew members — and 32 fish — are now at the International Space Station. Kevin Ford, Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin joined their Expedition 33 crewmates after docking the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft to the Poisk module at 12:29 UTC (8:29 a.m. EDT) Thursday. They join Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineers Aki Hoshide and Yuri Malenchenko who have been on board since July 17. Hatches between the International Space Station and the Soyuz will open later today after pressure and leak checks.


32 Asian medaka fish were also launched along with the crew on Tuesday from the from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. No word yet if all the fish survived the launch, but they will be placed in a new aquarium in the Japanese Kibo lab module for research on how the fish react to microgravity and space radiation. It should also be fun for the astronauts — and the public — to watch the fish swim about in the Aquatic Habitat.

The Aquatic Habitat, or AQH, is a Japanese Space Agency, or JAXA, facility that will enable the study of fish aboard the International Space Station. (JAXA)

You can read more about the Aquatic Habitat here.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Gallery: The Next ISS Soyuz Rolls Out to the Launchpad

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out to the launch pad by train, on Sunday, October 21, 2012, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.

Expedition 33/34 NASA Flight Engineer Kevin Ford, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin are scheduled to launch in their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft at 10:51 UTC (6:51 a.m. EDT) on Tuesday, Oct. 23, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Also on board will be 32 medaka fish, which will become space station residents in a zero-gravity research aquarium. Yesterday the Soyuz was rolled out the launchpad, and this launch will take place from a different launch pad than usual, site 31. This will be the first manned launch from Site 31 since July 1984 when the Soyuz T-12 spacecraft carried three cosmonauts to the Russian Salyut 7 space station. The launchpad that is normally used is being upgraded.

See a gallery of images from the rollout, below.

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out to the launch pad by train. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

No smoking! Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Soyuz is raised to the upright position on the launchpad. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The train engineer hangs out the window. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Pad workers install a safety railing at the launch pad. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Expedition 33 backup crew, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy (left), Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, right, are photographed in front of the Soyuz rocket shortly after it arrived at the launch pad. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Workers climb up to the Soyuz rocket after it was erected at the launch pad. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

See more images at NASA’s Flickr page.

Posted on by Ken Kremer

Gorgeous Glenelg – ‘Promised Land’ Panorama on Mars

Image Caption: Panoramic mosaic shows gorgeous Glenelg snapped by Curiosity on Sol 64 (Oct. 10) with eroded crater rim and base of Mount Sharp in the distance. This is a cropped version of the full mosaic as assembled from 75 images acquired by the Mastcam 100 camera. See full mosaic below. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

NASA’s 1 ton mega rover Curiosity is simultaneously eating Martian dirt and busily snapping hundreds of critical high resolution color photos of her surroundings at the gorgeous locale of tasty terrain of outcrops the scientists call the ‘Promised Land’ – a place that will help unveil the watery mysteries of ancient Mars.

11 weeks into Curiosity’s 2 year primary mission she finds herself at a spot dubbed Glenelg – her first major science destination – and which lies at the natural junction of three types of geologically varied terrain.

See our detailed color panoramic mosaics of the road ahead inside Glenelg as the robot methodically scans around at the inviting mix of geologic features never before investigated by a robotic emissary from Earth.

Glenelg offers an unprecedented opportunity for a boon of discoveries to the rover science team long before she arrives at her ultimate destination – the 3.4 mile (5.5 km) high layered mountain named Mount Sharp.

Image Caption: Panoramic mosaic shows gorgeous Glenelg snapped by Curiosity from Rocknest windblown dune on Sol 64 (Oct. 10) with eroded crater rim and base of Mount Sharp in the distance. This mosaic as assembled from 75 images acquired by the high resolution Mastcam 100 camera on Sol 64. Click to enlarge. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

Image Caption: Panorama shows beautiful vista of distant eroded rim of Gale Crater and breathtaking foreground terrain. This mosaic was assembled from high resolution Mastcam 100 images taken by Curiosity on Sol 50 (Sep. 26). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger scientist explained to me that the team is using the Mastcam 100 imagery to come up with options for the upcoming driving and exploration plan to be carried out over at least the next few weeks.

“We are at Glenelg and consider ourselves to be in the ‘Promised Land’. We took the images in the direction we will be traveling,” said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology during a media teleconference on Oct. 18.

“We mostly see outcrops there and that’s the reason we took those prioritized images,” he said about the Mastcam 100 imagery from Sols 64 and 66.

“These images will help guide us and give the team options in terms of what I am calling ‘tours’. The team comes up with hypothesis based on the images about observations they would like to make and where they would like to drive.”.

“Then we will integrate the different observations to come up with a model we hope for how the Glenelg area was put together geologically. And then that will inform ultimately our selection for which rock to drill into for the first time,” explained Grotzinger.

Image Caption: Curiosity scoops up Martian soil sample on Sol 66 (Oct 12. 2012). Navcam camera image mosaic shows the robotic arm at work during scooping operations. Curiosity later delivered the first soil sample to the circular CheMin sample inlet at the center on the rover deck. Tiny trenches measure about 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) wide. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

Image caption: Three bite marks left in the Martian ground by the scoop on the robotic arm of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity are visible in this image taken by the rover’s right Navigation Camera during the mission’s 69th Martian day, or sol (Oct. 15, 2012). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity is currently parked at a windblown ripple named ‘Rocknest’. It afforded the perfect type of dusty martian material to first test out the scoop and clean the sample processing system twice before finally inhaling the first sample of Martian sand into the robots Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) analytical instrument several sols ago to determine what minerals it contains.

Results from the Red Planet soil poured into the CheMin experiment located on the rover’s deck are expected in the coming week or so.

Tosol is Sol 75. Curiosity has taken nearly 20,000 pictures so far and driven a total distance of about 1,590 feet (484 meters).

Ken Kremer

See more of our Curiosity Mars mosaics by Ken Kremer & Marco Di Lorenzo at NBC News Cosmic log

…..
Nov. 16: Free Public Lecture by Ken Kremer about “Curiosity and the Search for Life in 3 D” and more at Union County College and Amateur Astronomers Inc in Cranford, NJ.

Posted on by Ken Kremer

Mars rover Scooping in Search of Pristine material at Rocknest

Image caption: Time lapse context view of Curiosity maneuvering her robotic arm. Curiosity conducts a close- up examination of windblown ‘Rocknest’ ripple site and inspects sandy material at “bootlike” wheel scuff mark with the APXS (Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer) and MAHLI (Mars Hand Lens Imager) instruments positioned on the rotatable turret at the arm’s terminus. Colorized mosaic was stitched together from Sol 57 & 58 Navcam raw images shows the arm in action just prior to 1st sample scooping here. Surrounding terrain and eroded rim of Gale Crater rim is visible on the horizon. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

NASA’s Curiosity rover is actively searching for uncontaminated Martian soil after finding new flecks of “bright material” of unknown origin in the windblown sands at “Rocknest” ripple.

The team leading the Curiosity Mars Science Lab (MSL) mission decided to dump the second scoopful of dusty material collected last week on Sol 66 (Oct. 12). Instead they will search for pristine Martian sand to pour into the rover’s critical sample-processing mechanisms to use as a decontamination agent for cleansing the interior chambers and walls of Earthly residues.

Image Caption: Bright Particle of Martian Origin in Scoop Hole. This image contributed to an interpretation by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity science team that some of the bright particles on the ground near the rover are native Martian material. Other light-toned material nearbyhas been assessed as small debris from the spacecraft. Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera took this image on Sol 66 (Oct. 12, 2012) showing part of the hole or bite left in the ground when Curiosity collected its first scoop of Martian soil five sols earlier. A clod of soil near the top center of the image contains a light-toned particle. The observation that the particle is embedded in the clod led scientists to assess this particle as Martian material, not something from the spacecraft. This assessment prompted the mission to continue scooping in the area, despite observations of a few light-toned particles in the area being scooped. The image shows an area about 2 inches (5 centimeters) across. It is brightened to improve visibility in the shaded area. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The science team is proceeding with appropriate caution – just as they indicated at press briefings – so as not to gum up the sample processing system with material that could give false positive readings for organic compounds or compromise the integrity of the rover’s delicate sample handling and delivery system.

“Concerns that the bright spot is more material shed from the flight system, and that some of this terrestrial material is in the scooped dirt, led the tactical team to decide to dump the scoop and take MAHLI images of the scoop targets first,” wrote MSL scientist Ken Herkenhoff in a rover team update.

The second scoopful of Martian sand from Rocknest was intentionally discarded on Sol 67 (Oct.13) after up close imaging by the MAHLI microscopic imaging camera revealed several specks of bright material that could be debris from the landing system or the rover itself or possibly even native Martian material.

The third test sample will be carefully analyzed by MAHLI, ChemCam and Mastcam and verified to be free of FOD before the team decides to pour the new processed sand into the processing system and eventually into the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) analytical chemistry instruments on the rover deck.

Image Caption: Small Debris on the Ground Beside Curiosity – This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity shows a small bright object on the ground beside the rover at the “Rocknest” site about half an inch (1.3 centimeters) long. The rover team has assessed this object as debris from the spacecraft, possibly from the events of landing on Mars. The image was taken on Sol 65 (Oct. 11, 2012). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Progress has been slowed somewhat by communications glitches with a radio transmitter at a Deep Space Network ground station and an unrelated new problem with NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) which went into “safe mode” on Sol 69. MRO serves as the highest volume communications relay for Curiosity’s images and scientific and engineering data.

Tosol is Sol 71 and Curiosity is now 10 weeks into her two year long mission to investigate whether Mars ever had conditions sufficient to sustain microbial life forms.

Curiosity made a pinpoint landing inside Gale Crater on Aug. 5/6, just a few miles away from her ultimate destination – the sedimentary lower layers of Mount Sharp holding deposits of hydrated minerals.


Video Caption: This 256 frame video clip shows the 1st sample of Martian material being vibrated inside Curiosity’s table spoon sized scoop on Oct. 7, 2012.

Ken Kremer

Posted on by Jason Major

Watch: Incredible Headcam Video from Felix’s Freefall

Felix Baumgartner salutes his suit-mounted camera before stepping off his capsule’s platform at 128,000 feet (Red Bull Stratos)

Yesterday, October 14, Austrian pilot and BASE jumper Felix Baumgartner became the first person to skydive from over 128,000 feet, breaking the sound barrier during his 4 minute, 20 second plummet from the “edge of space.” A new video from Red Bull Stratos includes views from Felix’s suit-mounted cameras as he drops through virtually no atmosphere, smoothly at first but then going into a wild spin… but eventually stabilizing himself for the remainder of his fall and opening his chute at just over 6,000 feet. Incredible!

Check out the video below:

Here’s how Baumgartner described the spin and how he got out of it during the press conference after his jump yesterday:

“It started out really good because my exit was perfect, I did exactly what I was supposed to do… It looked like for a second I was going to tumble two more times and then get it under control, but for some reason that spin became so violent over all axis and it was hard to know how to get out of it, because, if you are trapped in a pressurized suit – normally as a skydiver you can feel the air and get direct feedback from the air — but here you are trapped in a suit that is pressurized at 3.5 PSI so you don’t know how to feel the air. It is like swimming without touching the water. And it’s hard because every when time it turns you around you have to figure out what to do. So I was sticking my arm out and it became worse and then I stuck arm out the other side and it became less, so I was fighting all the way down to regain control because I wanted to break the speed of sound. And I hit it. I don’t know how many seconds, but I could feel air was building up and then I hit it.”

So, in that quote, Baumgartner seemed to describe that he could feel when he broke the speed of sound, but in answering the next question of how it felt, he kind of backtracked and said he didn’t feel it.

“It’s hard to describe because I didn’t feel it. When you are in the pressure suit, you don’t feel anything, it is like being in a cast…. We have to look at the data – at what point did it happen — was I still spinning or was I under control? If you want to chart speed you need a reference point of things that pass you by, or sound, or your suit if flapping. I didn’t have that.”

Read more about Baumgartner’s record (and sound!) -breaking achievement and see lots more images and video here.

ADDED: A version of the video showing his chute opening (and with some background music added) can be found here on iloveskydiving.org.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Baumgartner’s Record-Breaking Jump: Images and Video

Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria jumps out of the capsule during the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico, USA on October 14, 2012. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Daredevil Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier today during a skydive from the stratosphere, from approximately 38.5 km (128,000 ft, 24.24 miles) above the Earth’s surface. Baumgartner reached Mach 1.24 or 1,342 km/h (833.9 miles per hour), going faster than the speed of sound. Here is a gallery of official images and video from Red Bull Stratos. You can find out more in our full article which provides all the details.

The crane that holds the capsule as the balloon ascends. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

The crane follows the balloon with the capsule at the flight line during the launch of Baumgartner’s flight. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner seen on a screen at mission control center while he is still inside the capsule, while he talks to Joe Kittinger (back of his head is visible). Kittinger previously held the record for longest and fastest freefall before Baumgartner’s jump today. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Screens at the mission control shows Felix Baumgartner of Austria as he jumps from the capsule. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

The view from a camera inside the capsule as Baumgartner jumps. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner moves from his seat to the ledge outside the capsule. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner floats down to Earth on a parachute. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Just before Baumgartner lands. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner lands on his feet and celebrates. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner falls to his knees after landing successfully. Credit Red Bull Stratos.

Felix Baumgartner celebrates after successfully completing his record-breaking jump. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner after his successful jump. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner and Technical Project Director Art Thompson celebrate together after the successful jump. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner with members of his family following the successful jump. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner, Kittinger and the Red Bull Stratos team at a press conference following the jump. Credit: Red Bull

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Baumgartner Survives Heart-Pounding, Record-Setting Freefall

Felix Baumgartner sinks to his knees and raises his arms after his successful dive from the stratosphere on Oct. 14, 2012. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.

Aerospace history was made as Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner set several records during an incredible heart-pounding jump from the stratosphere where he became the first person to travel faster than the speed of sound with just his body. Baumgartner was lifted aloft in a specially made capsule attached to one of the largest helium balloons ever used for human balloon flights. He jumped from approximately 39 km (39,045 meters, 128,100 feet, 24.26 miles) above the Earth, and now has the record for the highest jump, fastest jump and highest human balloon flight. He also broke the speed of sound, hitting an incredible Mach 1.24 or 1,342 km/h (833.9 miles per hour), in his dizzying descent. The previous record holder for three of those records was retired Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger, 84, — Baumgartner’s trainer, mentor and CAPCOM for the jump — who relayed words of encouragement throughout the ascent and helped Baumgartner go through his egress checklist. The only record of Kittinger’s that Baumgartner didn’t break was for the longest time in freefall. Baumgartner dropped for 4 minutes 20 seconds.

See a gallery of images below of the jump:

(This article was updated at 1:32 UTC on Oct. 15, 2012 to reflect verified data from Red Bull Stratos).

Baumgartner could be heard breathing heavily, but regularly, as he stepped onto the ledge of the capsule.

Just before he jumped, looking at the view of Earth below, Baumgartner said, “I wish the world could see what I can see. Sometimes you have to go really high to see how small you are.” He then dove feetfirst from the edge of the capsule.

Infrared cameras first picked up a small white dot falling through the sky, and soon the outline of Baumgartner was visible. Then, Baumgartner entered a spin, but he quickly was able to stabilize into a perfect freefall, bringing cheers from the Mission Control team from Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner could be heard talking during the entire freefall, but his words couldn’t always be made out. At one point he said his visor was fogging up, which had been a problem for much of the ascent inside the capsule. For some time during the ascent, there was discussion of aborting the jump because of the visor problem. But after much discussion and debate between Baumgartner and his team, the decision was made to go ahead with the jump.

As images appeared of Baumgartner falling under a fully deployed parachute, Kittinger radioed to his protege, “I couldn’t have done it better myself!”

While the goal of the jump was mainly to break records, the Red Bull Stratos team said today’s successful jump was a “big win for science,” as it collected valuable data to help improve safety for space travel and may even help with enabling high altitude bailouts from spacecraft that may be in danger.

Kittinger’s previous records were: Freefall from highest altitude: 31 km; fastest freefall: 988 km/h (614 mph); and longest freefall: 4 minutes 36 seconds, and so Kittinger still holds that record. The previous record for highest manned balloon flight was 34.66 km made by Victor Prather and Malcolm Ross in 1961.

All images are screenshots from the Red Bull Stratos webcast feed.

Screenshot of the webcast feed just minutes before Baumgartner jumped from the capsule.

Looking over Baumgartner’s shoulder inside the capsule as he goes through his checklist before the jump

Joe Kittinger and Felix Baumgartner go through the egress checklist to prepare for the jump.

Baumgartner’s view from the capsule just before he jumped.

Infrared view of Baumgartner during his freefall.

First non-infrared view of Baumgartner under his parachute.

Another view of Baumgartner under his unfurled parachute.

Baumgartner gets closer to the ground.

Baumgartner’s family cheers after they see the parachute has successfully deployed.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Felix Baumgartner’s Record Breaking Jump Attempt

Part science experiment, part publicity stunt, part life-long ambition, the Red Bull Stratos mission features skydiver Felix Baumgartner attempting to break the speed of sound with his body in a record-setting freefall from the stratosphere. Watch live in the feed above. A high-tech capsule that will bring Baumgartner to 36,500 meters (120,000 feet) above Earth, via a stratospheric balloon.

Update: Success! Baumgarter did it, breaking several freefall records! Read our full story, with a full gallery of images from the jump.