Felix Baumgartner completes record-setting space jump

UPDATE: Felix Baumgartner successfully completed his space jump, a 24-mile skydive.

USA TODAY's Marco R. della Cava has the details:

Sky adventurer Felix Baumgartner completed a 24-mile skydive Sunday, wrapping up a five-year effort to shatter a world record set 52 years ago.

A 30 million-cubic-foot helium balloon hoisted a 3,000-pound capsule carrying Baumgartner toward an adventure that was postponed Monday and Tuesday -- and for a few hours today -- due to high winds.

Today's date is significant: On Oct. 14, 1947, pilot Chuck Yaeger broke the sound barrier for the first time in an aircraft. As Baumgartner heads up, the only voice in his ear is that of retired Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger, 84, his mentor on this Red Bull Stratos project and the holder of the record the Austrian is trying to beat.

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Felix Baumgartner will once again attempt to break the world record for the highest, and fastest free fall in history on Sunday, Oct. 14.

During his fall from 23 miles up in space he would break the speed of sound. He will do this with the help of a 3,000-pound capsule and a high-tech suit.

The best part: You can watch the space jump from this live stream.

For background on the project, read this feature on Felix Baumgartner from USA TODAY's Marco R. della Cava. Here's a snippet:

The jump was postponed on Monday and Tuesday because of unexpected winds. Baumgartner has been working his way up to this world record jump from the edge of space for the past few years, twice running into speed bumps.

Austrian promoter Daniel Hogan derailed the first mission when he sued Red Bull Stratos -- the Austrian energy drink that is sponsoring Baumgartner's attempt – claiming he'd thought of the idea first. That suit was settled out of court last summer.

The other hiccup was more serious. Unaccustomed to freefalling while confined by a helmet and cumbersome suit, Baumgartner started suffering panic attacks and pulled himself off the project. He overcame his fears with the help of a sports psychologist.

"It was simple stuff," Baumgartner told USA TODAY in August after making his final test jump -- from nearly 100,000 feet -- outside the desert town of Roswell, N.M. "I'd put on a helmet and tell him, from one to 10, how panicked I felt. And in the end, no matter what the number was, he told me my pulse rate never changed. So it was all in my head."