It's a venture that began as a balloon voyage, turned into a mission from the edge of space, and then ended as a parachute jump. When Austrian sky diver Felix Baumgartner stepped out of his capsule on Oct. 14, wearing nothing but a spacesuit, he fell more than 24 miles, breaking the sound barrier — and, perhaps, new ground in making space travel safer. Science Illustrated goes behind the scenes of Baumgartner's first test jump — and looks at the technology that made his daring feat possible.
As the altimeter reaches 71,615 feet, Felix Baumgartner opens the hatch of his small space capsule. He steps out onto a small landing, holding on to the railings on each side. Beneath him, Earth's radiant blue arc curves toward the horizon. As a…