Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria hugs Capcom 1 USAF Col (ret) Joe Kittinger of the United States during the second manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico, USA on July 25, 2012.
"Joe's funny as hell," he says "He feels like my dad now."
Kittinger says he's finally found the man worthy of breaking his record.
"I had no idea [the record] would last 52 years," Kittinger says. "Felix is the perfect guy to do it. He's a professional athlete, he's trained, and he has a goal."
Once Baumgarter has reached 120,000 feet, he'll stand on the edge of his capsule, higher than anyone has ever been before, and he'll jump. If everything goes right, in a span of 10 minutes, he will break the speed of sound, a 52-year-old record, and drive a little more doubt into the idea that for humans, the sky is the limit.
Jason Koebler is a science and technology reporter for U.S. News & World Report. You can follow him on Twitter or reach him at jkoebler@usnews.com
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