. >> reporter: joe kittinger in mission control was the voice in baumgartner's ear. >> there is the world out there. >> reporter: in 1960 kittinger than an air force captain set the free fall record with a dive from 102,000 feet. he spent four years helping to train baumgartner for this minute, the plunge from 128,000 feet within 30 seconds, baumgartner's preliminary speed topped out 833 miles per hour. the first human in free fall to break the speed of sound. there was drama and danger and he went into a catastrophic topspin and regained control back at a head-down controlled position. his free fall lasted 4 minutes and 19 seconds more than one minute short of kittinger's record before his chute opened on schedule. no olympic gymnast has ever stuck a landing quite like this. [ applause ] >> the new world-record holder. >> i would love in four years to get in the same spot that joe kittinger is there and some young guy is asking for advice because he wants to break my record. >> reporter: felix baumgartner the man who fell to earth like no one ever has. >> no doubt what felix baumgartner

. >> reporter: joe kittinger in mission control was the voice in baumgartner's here. >> there it is, there is the world out there. >> reporter: in 1960 kittinger then an air force captain set the freefall record with a dive from 102,000 feet. he spent four years helping train baumgartner for this moment. the plunge from 128,000 feet. >> i wish you could see what i can see. >> reporter: within 30 seconds baumgartner's preliminary speed topped out at 833 miles per hour. the first human in freefall to break the speed of sound. but there was trouble and drama. for about 10 seconds he went into a potentially catastrophic flat spin, spinning like a top. he regained control, back in a head droinled position to the relief of everyone in mission control. history fall lasted four minutes and 19 seconds, more than one minute short of kittinger's record before his chute opened on schedule. no olympic gymnast has ever stuck a landing quite like this. >> a new world record holder. >> i was love getting in the same spot joe kittinger, and there a young guy sitting next to me asking advice because h

but sunday's mission was about breaking a free-fall record that had stood since 1960 when joe kittinger 19 1/2 miles high and also breaking the sound barrier. if his suit tore, the former austrian military paratrooper faced instant death. he was a guest on the "today" show earlier this year. >> well, i like the challenge. i always like to work on projects where i have to start by scratch. >> reporter: sunday after a brief burst of wind, baumgartner's balloon got the green light. >> there's the release. and there's the p applause. >> reporter: and 2 1/2 hours later, he was standing where no man had stood before with joe kittinger on the radio. >> our guardian angel will take care of you. >> reporter: out of the capsule, felix was a bullet, 833 miles an hour mcht ach 1.24, exceeding the speed of sound. and then with a space mask fogging up, what looked like a terrifying out of control flat spin before he stabilized. finally 4 1/2 minutes later, baum gagartner pulled his chute. >> when i was standing on top of the world, you become so huchl bell. you want to come back alive because you do

american retired colonel joe kittinger. rter: are you jealous of felix, that he's going to break your record? joe: "oh no. i'm delighted. i'm delighted he's going to do it. he's advancing science - and he'll do a great job. risks included low temperatures, thin atmosphere and possible loss of consciousness. but still, baumgartner said death did not scare him. well dying has always been part of my life- because as a base- jumper you always face death on every base-jump. therefore it is important that you do your homework. because you need to be confident. you have to have confidence in the team, in your skills and yourself. and- you always hope that you're not gonna die. it might happen, but i'm gonna put everything out there and make sure it's not gonna happen baumgartner almost made an attempt last tuesday from the launch site in roswell -- but a gust of wind ruined those plans. i'm cristina mutchler reporting >> your live illinois lottery drawing is next >> after that jim ramsey will join us and he says all this rain may c

. >> reporter: joe kittinger has held the skydiving record since 1960 when the air force captain jumpedrom 19 miles up. kittinger now 84 is helping to train baumgartner to break his record. >> we have better suits and better equipment but the danger is still there. hasn't changed a bit. >> reporter: nasa and the u.s. air force will monitor baumgartner's jump to learn about high altitude limits on the human body. are you understandably nervous about that? >> oh, yes. this is stepping into the unknown. >> reporter: baumgartner says he's also confident as he's ready to take a plunge unprecedented in u.s. history. >>> that could be really good or really bad. we'll have to see what happens. straight ahead your monday morning weather and in sports a historic night for drew brees and a post-season victory sealed with a kiss. post-season victory sealed with a kiss. food, meet flavor. flavor, meet food. it's time for swanson flavor boost. concentrated broth in easy to use packets. mix it into skillet dishes, for an instant dose of... hell-o! [ female announcer ] get recipes at flavorboost.com. w

it lasted 4 minutes and 20 seconds, 16 seconds shorter than joe kittinger's record set half a century ago. he helped train bumgardner and was there from liftoff to landing. roswell, new mexico. >>> back on earth, a popular walking bath in rhode island were treated to a most unlikely site. a stolen suv was perched on a giant set of rocks at the bottom of a cliff. the stone staircase drops dozens of feet to an area overlooking the sea. the obvious problem, how to retrieve the suv from the dangerous spot. >> i would say it's one of the more difficult and challenging jobs you come across. you had to spin the car down on the rocks so we could get the wheels into the cliff. so we used it a clothesline technique. the there was a lot of people wanting to see it. it was a popular walking path and we were inconveniencing people for a little while. >> police say the vehicle had been reported stolen on thursday. they believe the suv was pushed, not driven over the edge of the cliff. >>> two bicyclists are hospitalized in serious condition after being struck by a pickup truck in arlington. it happ

secret weapon, the steely calm voice of a man who had been there. 84-year-old retired colonel joe kittingerat's him hurtling back to earth back then. sunday he talked felix through breaking his own record. okay, here we go. >> reporter: you must know your voice in his ear was so comfort. >> well, i hope so. that's what i was there to, to help him accomplish the task. >> and felix is back to earth successfully, the new record holder. >> reporter: ryan owens, abc news, roswell, new mexico. >> and coming up, something new, our instant index. what had us talking today and starting with this, armchair astronomers discover a planet straight out of "star wars," the th tatoian in our backyard. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and as

. >> reporter: it was the voice of experience. 84-year-old joe kittinger held the record for the highest free fall for 52 years. today, he talked felix through shattering that record by more than 25,000 feet. >> whoa! >> reporter: high winds delayed liftoff last week, but nothing, it seemed, could keep felix from the stratosphere today. he even returned to earth on his feet with a record that is simply out of this world. >> when you stand up there on top of the world, you become so humble. it's not about breaking records anymore. it's not about getting scientific data. it's all about coming home alive. >> reporter: we know felix will be in the record books. he may well be in science books, as well. researchers plan to study what happened to his pressure suit today and they think they can design stronger, safer ones for the astronauts of the future and, david, he may have inspired some of those today, as well. >> and that landing, picture perfect, ryan, thanks to you tonight. >>> we move on to the race for president and "your voice, your vote." the election just 23 days away. two sets of

the fact you had joe kittinger there as part of the team, it was great. >> i think it's amazing that this very day the speed of sound was broken in an airplane. >> this was scheduled to happen earlier in the week, but because of the elements and the conditions were just not cooperating, it just so happens this ended up being the optimal day. very significant on so many levels. >> right. right. >> so we're rolling that tape again, leo. i don't know if you're able to see it this moment. that descent, that jump out of that capsule. what do you think is next? after something like this, what is the next challenge for space exploration, for science, for experimentation of this level? >> well, i think as we're talking about this experiment, this jump was very relevant for pressure suit development. so this will lead to better pressure suits. you see that he was actually relatively flexible in that suit. that's one thing we struggle with with pressure suits is how do you keep enough pressure in there and design soft goods and everything else such that you minimize volume changes when you mov

. >> reporter: it was the voice of experience. 84-year-old joe kittinger held the record for the highestl for 52 years. he talked felix through shattering that record by more than 25,000 feet. high winds delayed liftoff last week, but nothing it seemed could keep felix from the stratosphere. he even returned to earth on his feet with a record that's simply out of this world. >> when you stand up there on top of the world, you become so humbled. it's not about breaking records anymore, it's not about getting scientific data. it's about coming home alive. >> reporter: we know felix will be in the record books. he may also be in science books. researchers plan to study what happened to his pressure suit and believe they can use that to design stronger safer ones for the astronauts of the future. ryan owens, abc news, roswell, new mexico. >> it is an amazing story. people are cheering for what this really means for the progression of science, the contribution he now has made to science. earlier this summer, august, the mars "rover" landing now. now you have this. people are saying -- it is a

on the way up, he hears a single voice. 84-year-old joe kittinger. >> okay, here we go. >> reporter: the only other man who knows what it's like to free fall from high up. >> okay, felix, it gets serious. >> reporter: kittenger tells him it's time to open the capsule door. >> there it is. >> reporter: his legs are dangling out. he's slow to respond to commands. >> okay, do you read me, felix? on the communications? >> reporter: finally a thumbs up. he disconnects from the capsule and puts his hands on the railing. >> our guardian angel will take care of you. >> reporter: with that, he dove. first, silence. and then heavy breathing. he's falling so fast he's barely a speck on thisinfrared camera. he's spinning out of control for 35 seconds. then suddenly, a sound. for a terror-inducing 4:30, he free falls. his body plummeting to the earth at 833 miles an hour, breaking the sound barrier. something no one has ever done without a jet or a rocket. when you were in that what looked to me like a death spin, you must have been afraid. >> i was. in that situation. it's -- it spins you around

. >> they were feeling it in mission control where 84-year-old joe kittinger watched felix baumgartner break the height and speed record he setback in 1960. >> the new world record holder. >> this took five years of planning. it was not a fear of heights that felix had to overcome but rather claustophobia. >> you have to use a pressure suit. otherwise you're going to die. on just the thought of spending seven hours in the tube is pretty much a whole day that was freaking me out. it's not super sonic speed, it's not the height that was the problem. it was the suit. nobody anticipated that. >> a psychiatrist helped him deal with that but there was another adjustment. his attitude. >> at one point you had a reputation of a bit of a hot head. how have you changed? >> well i think i've changed a lot. you change with age. you become more quiet. maybe a little bit smarter. you have become more humble. >> even if you create the sonic boom heard around the world. >> this is the only super sonic boom created from a human person that exists in the whole world. >> what does it mean to you that it'

. >> reporter: joe was joe kittinger at mission control. in 1960 kittinger leapted from 102,000 feet. >> we'll take care of you. >> reporter: felix baumgartner fog adviser or not was jumping from 128,000 feet. but almost instantly he courted catastrophe. his body back to flat spin, rotating like a top. >> trying to regain control because i want to break the speed of sound. >> reporter: he did regain control and within the jump's first 30 seconds became the first human in free fall to break mach 1. >> i would like to give a special one finger salute to all the folks who said he would come apart when going super sonic. >> reporter: felix baumgartner was just shy of kittinger's record before opening his shoot and gliding to earth about 40 miles from where he launched. five miles of training for the highest, fastest free fall ever. >> never anticipated it would be so tough. sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you are. [ applause ] >> reporter: what you saw was more than a stunt at least from nasa. they want to learn

on the way up, he hears a single voice. 84-year-old joe kittinger. >> okay, here we go. >> reporter: the only other man who knows what it's like to free fall from more than 100,000 feet. >> okay, felix, it gets serious. >> reporter: kittinger tells him it's time to open the capsule door. >> there it is. there's the world out there. >> reporter: suddenly, his legs are hanging out. >> release seat belt. >> reporter: felix is slow to respond to some commands. kittinger is worried that it's getting to him. >> okay, do you read me, felix? on the communications? >> reporter: finally a thumbs up. he disconnects from the capsule and puts his hands on the railing. >> our guardian angel will take care of you. >> reporter: with that, felix dove. at first, there's silence. and then, heavy breathing, the first sign he's even still alive. he's falling so fast he's barely a speck on this infrared camera. for 35 seconds of that fall, felix is spinning out of control, something his team feared could cause him to lose consciousness. then suddenly, a sound. for a terror-inducing 4:20, he free falls. hi

but 120,000 feet would shatter the record set 50 years ago but air force pilot, joe kittinger who fell from a balloon. he's 84 and a little jealous. >> do you wish you were up there? >> hell, yes. if he doesn't want to do it, i'll go. >> reporter: not a chance says the daredevil with a born to fly tattoo on his arm. >> it's just me. i love to be in the air. it's my second home. >> ryan owens, thanks for that. it happens later this morning. wish him well. >>> let's head to sam and the weather. >> glad he's doing it and we didn't need volunteers. let's get to the boards. we're going to show you what we think may be the very first snowflakes to come out of west virginia or come down in west virginia. didn't amount to much. you couldn't have skied on it. but last year, in the same zone, the first snow didn't fall until after thanksgiving. here's the cold air. if you look at where it is, where the solid center of it is, it's from detroit to nashville to new orleans. this basically needs that we moderated this push of colder air. and even though it's chilly this morning, it's not what it was

. >> reporter: joe was joe kittinger in mission control. in 1960 kittinger left from 102,000 feet. a record that stood for 52 years until he helped train baumgartner. >> start the cameras. our guardian angel will take care of you. >> reporter: baumgartner, fogged visor or not, was jumping from 128,000 feet. but almost instantly, he courted catastrophe. his body began to flat spin, rotating wildly like a top. >> i was fighting all the way down to regain control. because i wanted to break the speed of sound. >> reporter: he did regain control. and within the jump's first 30 seconds became the first human in free fall to break mach one. >> i'd like to give a special one fingered salute to all the folks that said he was going to come up -- >> reporter: baumgartner spent four minutes and 20 seconds in free fall, just shy of kittinger's record, before opening his shoot at 5,000 feet and gliding to earth about 40 miles from where he launched. five years of training for the highest, fastest free fall ever. >> i've never anticipated it was going to be so tough. sometimes you have to go up r

that is held by miss mentor joe kittinger at 5 minutes 30 seconds. 8million people watched this on youtube, there were 40 networks covering it from 50 different countries and it happened on the anniversary of chuck yeagar breaking the speed of sound barrier in a jet 55 years ago. he says he's done and he's going to back to flying helicopters and spending time with his girlfriend. believe me he earned it. what an amazing thing to watch. megyn: oh, my gosh. it's terrifying. that takes a lot of guts. a lot of guts, maybe a little few screws loose too. trace, thank you. >> when we saw him spinning, megyn we thought he was done. when i saw him spinning i thought this guy is done. that's the thing he feared enough was that spin. megyn: that's why they call it the death spin and you're in it. that is definitely on the bad fact list. all right, trace, thank you. >> okay. megyn: coming up americans vow to practice liberty and justice for all in this country. why are schools in one state considering different test standards for students of different racial backgrounds? we'll investigate. plus, obama