MISSION TO THE EDGE OF SPACE

Felix Baumgartner's 24-mile skydive from the stratosphere on Sunday was a boon for social networks as millions of users shared in the wonder of the moment from their computers, tablets and phones.

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Update: Eight million viewers watched  Baumgartner's leap on the video sharing network, making it the biggest event in live Web video ever, notes Peter Kafka at All Things D. "That number blows away YouTube’s previous peak of 500,000 concurrent streams, which it hit this summer during the Olympics, as well as last year during the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton," Kafka added.

In the United States, the opportunity to watch the jump on TV was limited to the Discovery Channel, though more than 40 television networks in 50 total countries carried the lived feed, organizers said. It was streamed by more than 130 digital outlets.

 

Handout / Getty Images

Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria and Technical Project Director Art Thompson (R) of the Unites States celebrate after successfully completing the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos on October 14, 2012 in Roswell, New Mexico.

Felix Baumgartner's supersonic freefall from 128k' 

- Mission Highlights

Published on Oct 14, 2012 by redbull

After flying to an altitude of 39,045 meters (128,100 feet) in a helium-filled balloon, Felix Baumgartner completed a record breaking jump for the ages from the edge of space, exactly 65 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier flying in an experimental rocket-powered airplane. Felix reached a maximum of speed of 1,342.8 km/h (833mph) through the near vacuum of the stratosphere before being slowed by the atmosphere later during his 4:20minute long freefall. The 43-year-old Austrian skydiving expert also broke two other world records (highest freefall, highest manned balloon flight), leaving the one for the longest freefall to project mentor Col. Joe Kittinger.

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