Recap

Felix Baumgartner completes world's highest skydive – coverage highlights

The daredevil's stunt was a brilliant feat of human endurance – and of savvy marketing. Here's a recap of our coverage

Alexander Hotz
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 October 2012 14.56 BST

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Felix Baumgartner jumps out of the capsule with a 24-mile drop back down to earth Photograph: Handout/Getty Images

Unless you were living under a rock this weekend, you're probably aware that Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian daredevil, jumped out of a balloon 24 miles above the earth. After a four-minute plunge during which he broke the speed of sound, Baumgartner successfully landed safely, thereby completing humanity's highest skydive. Here's how we covered the story.

As it happened

Felix Baumgartner of Austria jumping out of the capsule during the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos on October 14, 2012 Photograph: Jay Nemeth/AFP/Getty Images Keeping tabs on the decent as it happened was the Guardian's Dominic Rushe:

12:08 MT
And he's falling.
12:10 MT
They are cheering in the command room. He appears to be in a stable descent. Phew. Two minutes into freefall.
Speed is over 725mph
12:12 MT
I think he said that his visor is fogging up. The chute has been deployed.
12:14 MT
Ava Baumgartner, Felix's mother, is weeping tears of joy in the control room.
12:17 MT
And he's down and safe.
12:20 MT
Hugs and tears in mission control. Baumgartner is standing, he looks poised. He was running as he hit the ground. His helmet is off. Five years of training clearly paid off.

Questions after the jump

Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria celebrates after successfully completing the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, N.M Photograph: Balazs Gardi/AP YouTube claimed 8m people watched Baumgartner's jump live on its platform. The Guardian's Leo Hickman tackled a number of questions, including: what was the biggest danger that Baumgartner faced?

His team identified 16 key risks that had to all be overcome for the record attempt to succeed. They included ultraviolet radiation, wind shear, landing impact, extreme temperatures, hypoxia (oxygen starvation), decompression sickness, entering a flat spin during the descent, "shock-shock interaction" (an explosive effect when shock waves in the air collide when passing through the sound barrier) and fire aboard the capsule. But the team said two dangers hung over Baumgartner above all others – a "breach" in the suit or capsule, and the accidental deployment of a parachute.

And how did they know where he would fall?

Given that he reached a height of 24 miles above the surface of the Earth, it seems remarkable that he was able to land with such accuracy back on the desert floor in New Mexico. His team later confirmed that his landing site was just 23 miles from where the balloon had taken off several hours earlier. Unlike an astronaut, Baumgartner remained within the Earth's atmosphere so never experienced the planet rotating underneath him as witnessed by anyone actually in orbit. His team waited for the perfect weather conditions when high-altitude winds that might have caused his balloon to drift were at a minimum. Once he exited his free-fall by deploying his parachute, Baumgartner was able to "steer" himself to a preferred landing spot. A beacon inside his suit meant his recovery helicopter was able to closely follow him.

Red Bull takes sponsorship to new heights

Felix Baumgartner's balloon and capsule, back on earth after the jump. Photograph: Photoshot Not surprisingly, after leaping from the edge of space and then traveling through most of the earth's atmosphere Baumgartner needs some downtime. For the next few days the daredevil's spokesman says he's putting off interviews and resting.
While the pubic waits for him to resurface pundits have all weighed in on what the jump means. Sure, it was an impressive achievement for Baumgartner and his team, but what about Red Bull? The energy drink manufacturer has set a new high bar for publicity stunts, according to the Guardian's Owen Gibson.

Sponsorship experts said on Monday that the online frenzy around Baumgartner's leap served to highlight trends that had been emerging for some time, as sponsors moved away from traditional models and towards their own bespoke spectaculars.
"The biggest trend in the last 10 years, and the social internet side of things has merely accelerated it, is that creating your own content has absolutely moved to the top of the agenda. The hackneyed old tickets, hospitality and perimeter boarding model is being left behind," said Tim Crow, chief executive of the sponsorship agency Synergy.
Major brands have been talking for years about becoming content producers rather than simply paying media and rights owners to advertise or slap their logos on shirts and hoardings. But none have taken it as seriously as Red Bull.
Red Bull were an early pioneer, trading in their sponsorship of a Formula One team to buy their own in 2004, for example. A couple of years later they bought the Major League Soccer team that was renamed New York Red Bulls. But most of their investment has been in extreme sport and in building up long-term links with individual athletes – funding an army of base jumpers, free runners, snowboarders, cliff divers and BMX riders for whom they could create bespoke events and completely control the content around.

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Dreagon
16 October 2012 4:23PM

So now an energy drink company has a better space program than the vast majority of the countries on the planet.
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CreepingLevers
16 October 2012 4:50PM

Mmm, very impressive. But what's he ever done at Stanage?
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gruniadreader666
16 October 2012 5:27PM

I think this an example of the stupid thinks you will try after drinking too much red bull.
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sqcic
16 October 2012 6:13PM

Response to Dreagon, 16 October 2012 4:23PM

So now an energy drink company has a better space program than the vast majority of the countries on the planet.
Yes. And the funny thing is: This possibility has always been there, for decades. It seems, we need daredevils and adventurers like Felix Baumgartner to think outside the box, to inspire imagination and to make us dream. If he could convince a sponsor to share his dream with the world, then maybe so can others.
The entrepreneur is a man of action. To undertake a great endeavour is to fulfill your dreams. The world certainly doesn't lack loudmouths, but doers are rare.
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