Felix Baumgartner
He stepped off a platform 24 miles above Earth and fell faster than the speed of sound, becoming the first human to break the sound barrier in freefall.
1969–2025 (age 56)·Austrian skydiver and extreme sportsman·Birthday: April 20·Generation X
Biography
Felix Baumgartner spent a lifetime leaping from the world's tallest structures, but he aimed for something literally stratospheric. The Austrian daredevil, already famous in BASE jumping circles, partnered with Red Bull for the Stratos mission—a years-long scientific and engineering endeavor disguised as the ultimate stunt. On October 14, 2012, sealed in a pressurized suit, he ascended in a helium balloon to 128,100 feet, where the sky is black and Earth curves below. Then he jumped. For four minutes and twenty seconds, he was a human meteor, spinning uncontrollably before stabilizing and hitting a speed of 843.6 mph, Mach 1.25, shattering a record held since 1960. His successful landing in the New Mexico desert was a global television event, a visceral moment of human audacity that provided valuable data for future aerospace safety. Baumgartner's leap was a breathtaking fusion of extreme sport, live spectacle, and science.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Felix was born in 1969, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Felix Was Born
The biggest hits of 1969
#1 Movie
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Best Picture
Midnight Cowboy
#1 TV Show
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Felix's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1969Born
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1974Started school
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1982Became a teenager
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1985Could drive
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1987Could vote
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1990Turned 21
Hubble Space Telescope launched; Germany reunifies
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.80/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Hold On" — Wilson PhillipsBest Picture: Dances with Wolves
1999Turned 30
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 40
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2019Turned 50
First image of a black hole; Hong Kong protests
Gas: $2.60/galHome: $224,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Old Town Road" — Lil Nas XBest Picture: Parasite
2025Died at 56
AI agents go mainstream
Gas: $3.10/galHome: $385,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"APT." — Rose & Bruno Mars
Key Achievements
- Set the world record for the highest altitude freefall jump, leaping from 128,100 feet (39 km) in the stratosphere.
- Became the first human to break the sound barrier in freefall, reaching a maximum speed of 843.6 mph (Mach 1.25).
- Set records for the highest manned balloon flight and the greatest vertical freefall distance without a drogue parachute.
- His Red Bull Stratos jump provided critical medical and scientific data on supersonic freefall and high-altitude survival for future aerospace programs.
Did You Know?
Before Stratos, he was a pioneering BASE jumper, making headlines for jumps off the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
He served as a backup jumper for the previous record holder, Joseph Kittinger, who was a mentor and capsule communicator for the Stratos jump.
He was a former military parachutist in the Austrian Army.
The pressure suit he wore for the Stratos jump was a custom-built, full-pressure suit similar to those worn by astronauts.
“Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you are.”
