Editing Parachute (section)

== Records ==
[[File: HIGUEROTE DESDE EL AIRE.png|thumb|upright|A jumper in free-fall in Venezuela with his parachute on his back]]

On August 16, 1960, [[Joseph Kittinger]], in the [[Project Excelsior#Test jumps|Excelsior III test jump]], set the previous world record for the highest parachute jump. He jumped from a [[balloon]] at an altitude of {{Convert|102800|ft|m|0}} (which was also a piloted balloon altitude record at the time). A small stabilizer chute deployed successfully, and Kittinger fell for 4 minutes and 36 seconds,<ref>{{cite news |author=Jeffrey S. Hampton |title='Hero of Aviation' speaks about record-setting free fall |work=[[The Virginian-Pilot]] |page=Y1 |date=December 15, 2003}}</ref> also setting a still-standing world record for the longest parachute [[free-fall]], if falling with a stabilizer chute is counted as free-fall. At an altitude of {{Convert|17500|ft|m|-2}}, Kittinger opened his main chute and landed safely in the [[New Mexico]] desert. The whole descent took 13 minutes and 45 seconds.<ref name=Friend>{{cite news | author=Tim Friend | title=Out of thin air His free fall from {{convert|20|mi|km}} put NASA on firm footing | work=[[USA Today]] | page=1D | date=August 18, 1998}}</ref> During the descent, Kittinger experienced temperatures as low as {{convert|-94|°F|°C|0}}. In the free-fall stage, he reached a top speed of 614&nbsp;mph (988&nbsp;km/h or 274&nbsp;m/s), or Mach 0.8.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1960/HMN-19600816.htm |title=Data of the stratospheric balloon launched on 8/16/1960 For EXCELSIOR III |publisher=Stratocat.com.ar |date=September 25, 2013 |access-date=October 22, 2013}}</ref>

According to ''[[Guinness World Records]]'', [[Yevgeni Nikolayevich Andreyev|Yevgeni Andreyev]], a colonel in the [[Soviet Air Force]], held the official FAI record for the longest free-fall parachute jump (without [[drogue chute]]) after falling for 24,500&nbsp;m (80,380&nbsp;ft) from an altitude of 25,457&nbsp;m (83,523&nbsp;ft) near the city of [[Saratov, Russia]] on November 1, 1962, until broken by [[Felix Baumgartner]] in 2012.

Felix Baumgartner broke Joseph Kittinger's record on October 14, 2012, with a [[Red Bull Stratos|jump]] from an altitude of 127,852 feet (38,969.3 m) and reaching speeds up to 833.9&nbsp;mph (1,342.0&nbsp;km/h or 372.8&nbsp;m/s), or nearly Mach&nbsp;1.1.  Kittinger was an advisor for Baumgartner's jump.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/faster-than-the-speed-of-sound-the-man-who-falls-to-earth-1877875.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/faster-than-the-speed-of-sound-the-man-who-falls-to-earth-1877875.html |archive-date=2022-05-24 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Faster than the speed of sound: the man who falls to earth|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=January 25, 2010}}</ref>

[[Alan Eustace]] made a jump from the stratosphere on October 24, 2014, from an altitude of 135,889.108 feet (41,419 m). However, because Eustace's jump involved a [[drogue parachute]] while Baumgartner's did not, their vertical speed and free fall distance records remain in different record categories.