Daredevil Skydiver: Amazing & Astronishing

Don't look down! Daredevil skydiver leaps 13 miles from the edge of space at 354mph (and it takes him just 8 minutes to hit the ground)

Skydiving daredevil Felix Baumgartner is more than halfway toward his goal of setting a world record for the highest jump.

He's aiming for nearly 23 miles this summer. The record is 19.5 miles.

Mr Baumgartner lifted off Thursday for a test jump from Roswell, New Mexico, aboard a 100-foot helium balloon. He rode inside a pressurized capsule to 71,581 feet - 13.6 miles - and then jumped.

New heights: Felix Baumgartner is practicing for his upcoming record-breaking jump from 23 miles in the air

He parachuted to a safe landing, according to project spokeswoman Trish Medalen.

‘The view is amazing, way better than I thought,’ Mr Baumgartner said after the practice jump, in remarks provided by his representatives.

Thursday's rehearsal was a test of his capsule, full-pressure suit, parachutes and other systems.

A mini Mission Control - fashioned after NASA's - monitored his flight.

Mr Baumgartner reached speeds of up to 364.4 mph Thursday and was in free fall for three minutes and 43 seconds, before pulling his parachute cords. The entire jump lasted eight minutes and eight seconds.

With Thursday's successful test, Mr Baumgartner is believed to be only the third person ever to jump from such a high altitude and free fall to a safe landing, and the first in a half-century.

‘I'm now a member of a pretty small club,’ he said.

When the 42-year-old Austrian known as ‘Fearless Felix’ leaps from 120,000 feet in a few months, he expects to break the sound barrier as he falls through the stratosphere at supersonic speed.

There's virtually no atmosphere that far up, making it extremely hostile to humans, thus the need for a pressure suit and oxygen supply.

Support team: Mr Baumgartner (left), seen here with engineer Mike Todd, is also being assisted by the man whose record he is attempting to break

The record for the highest free fall is held by Joe Kittinger, a retired Air Force officer from Florida. He jumped from 102,800 feet - 19.5 miles - in 1960.

Mr Baumgartner is out to beat that record.

He plans one more dry run - jumping from 90,000 feet - before attempting the full 120,000 feet. The launch window opens in July and extends until the beginning of October.