Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian daredevil who had hoped to make history on Tuesday with a jump from the edge of space, is no stranger to death-defying danger.
In order for me to die, lots of things have to happen at the same time
The 43-year-old, who said he may now try his aborted jump today, is hoping to break at least three records by conducting the highest and the fastest freefall jump and by becoming the first human to break the speed barrier without an aircraft.
“I love a challenge, and trying to become the first person to break the speed of sound in freefall is a challenge like no other,” he said ahead of the cancelled stunt in the skies over New Mexico.
Tuesday’s attempt was scuttled at the last minute due to gusting winds which buffeted the huge, gossamer-thin balloon used to lift the skydiver to an altitude of 36 kilometres.
Baumgartner, born on April 20, 1969, grew up in the shadow of the Alps in Salzburg, Austria. He dreamed of skydiving and flying helicopters from an early age.
He made his first skydive at the age of 16, and improved his skills after joining the Austrian military, becoming a member of its Special Forces demonstration team.
One of Baumgartner’s first records was in 1999 for the lowest Base jump ever from the hand of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, which is only 29 metres above the ground.
Baumgartner has ‘Born to Fly’ tattooed in large letters on his forearm.
Base is an acronym for the four things which are jumped from: buildings, antennas, spans and earth.
The Austrian, a licensed gas balloon and helicopter pilot, twice set world records for the highest Base jump from a building.
The first was from the 450.8-metre Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1999, and five years later from the even taller Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan.
He has been training for Tuesday’s Red Bull Stratos jump – from 36km – for five years, and has successfully jumped from 21.8km and 29.6km. A major danger, he said, is losing consciousness.
But he said it is unlikely that he will pay the ultimate price for his love of skydiving.
“In order for me to die, lots of things have to happen at the same time,” Baumgartner said.
“I believe in God and I truly believe that there is a plan that he has for everybody. And I also believe that he has a plan for me. It looks like I am becoming an astronaut,” he has said.