Skydiving daredevil Felix Baumgartner is more than halfway toward his goal of setting a world record for the highest jump.
A spokeswoman says Baumgartner took a practice jump Thursday from more than 13 miles high over New Mexico. He’s aiming for nearly 23 miles this summer.
He lifted off from Roswell, N.M., aboard a helium balloon. He rode inside a pressurized capsule to about 71,000 feet, and then jumped. The spokeswoman says he landed safely.
When the 42-year-old Austrian leaps from 120,000 feet this summer, he expects to break the sound barrier. There’s virtually no atmosphere that far up, making it extremely dangerous.
The record is held by Joe Kittinger (KIT-in-jur), a retired Air Force officer. He jumped from 19.5 miles in 1960.
