Space diving

This definition is accepted by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which is an international standard setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics.

[2] However, Joseph Kittinger still holds the record for longest-duration free fall, at 4 minutes and 36 seconds, which he accomplished during his 1960 jump from 102,800 feet (31.3 km).

Higher jumps from the mesosphere or thermosphere have yet to be successfully performed, though Orbital Outfitters,[3] now defunct, was working to create a suit that was supposed to enable space diving.

He participated in Project Excelsior, testing the effects on pilots of ejecting at high altitude and in 1960 set a record for the highest, longest-distance, and longest-duration skydive, from a height greater than 102,000 feet (31 km).

In the early 1990s, Kittinger played a lead role with NASA assisting British SAS Soldier Charles "Nish" Bruce to break his highest parachute jump record.

In 1997 parachutist and pilot Cheryl Stearns formed Stratoquest,[8] aiming to break Kittinger's record as the first female space diver.

In 2012, Felix Baumgartner broke Kittinger's highest altitude and Andreyev's longest-distance free fall records, when, on October 14, he jumped from over 128,000 ft (39 km).