Daredevil hopes to leap into history

ROSWELL, N. M. Austrian skydiver and extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner hopes to take the leap of his life on Tuesday, attempting the highest, fastest free fall in history.

He could be the first skydiver to break the sound barrier.

The 43-year-old former military parachutist is scheduled to jump 37 kilometres from a balloon-hoisted capsule near Roswell on Tuesday morning. He wants to break the record set in 1960 by Joe Kittinger, who jumped from an open gondola at an altitude of 31 kilometres..