A daredevil ex-SAS soldier is to attempt a record-breaking skydive — from 120,000ft.Movie stuntman Steve Truglia, 40, will jump from a hot air balloon 24 miles up on the edge of space.
That is three times the cruising altitude of a Jumbo jet. Only a Space Shuttle flies higher, shedding its rocket boosters at 150,000ft.
He will freefall for seven minutes before opening his parachute, and could break the 770mph (1239 km/h) sound barrier as he hurtles towards the ground. No human has ever travelled at such a speed outside an aircraft — and Steve has no idea how his body will react.
He will need a pressurised space suit in temperatures of -100°C and risks going into an 800 revolutions per second spin.
Source: The Sun
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Capt. Joe W. Kittinger achieved the highest and longest (14 min) parachute jump in history on August 16, 1960 as part of a United States Air Force program testing high-altitude escape systems. Wearing a pressure suit, Capt. Kittinger ascended for an hour and a half in an open gondola attached to a balloon to an altitude of 102,800 feet (31,330 m), where he then jumped. The fall lasted 4 minutes and 36 seconds, during which Capt. Kittinger reached speeds of 714 miles per hour (1,150 km/h)[6]. The air in the upper atmosphere is less dense and thus leads to lower air-resistance and a much higher terminal velocity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skydiving