Felix Baumgartner is an Austrian skydiver, daredevil, and BASE jumper. He is best known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon in the stratosphere on 14 October 2012. Doing so, he set world records for skydiving an estimated 39 km (24 mi), reaching an estimated top speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph), or Mach 1.25.[a][b] He became the first person to break the sound barrier without vehicular power relative to the surface on his descent.[12][13] He broke skydiving records for exit altitude, vertical freefall distance without drogue, and vertical speed without drogue.
Baumgartner is also renowned for the particularly dangerous nature of the stunts he has performed during his career. Baumgartner spent time in the Austrian military where he practiced parachute jumping, including training to land on small target zones.