KINGSTON:

All systems are now "go" for Felix Baumgartner's jump from the edge of space. The Red Bull Stratos space capsule has passed high-altitude simulation testing after it was damaged in July's final practice jump and will launch today in Roswell, New Mexico.

The final countdown for Baumgartner's history-making jump from the edge of space began on Monday, October 1 after the Red Bull Stratos technical project director, Art Thompson, declared the repaired space capsule is fit and all systems are go.

The tentative launch date for Baumgartner's attempt to jump from an altitude of 36,576 metres ends a period of uncertainty for the team and, for Baumgartner, the agony of waiting.

The Austrian extreme sport athlete had to endure delays due to the repairs, but is now delighted that the countdown is on for his attempt to become the first person to break the sound barrier in freefall and set four other world records in the process.

"I feel like a tiger in a cage waiting to get out," said Baumgartner, 43, one of the world's most celebrated B.A.S.E. jumpers and extreme athletes, who in 2003 became the first person to make a freefall flight across the English Channel, with the aid of a carbon wing.

Super-fast speed

He will be flying as fast as a speeding bullet during his supersonic journey to earth.

Aviation pioneer Baumgartner and the Red Bull Stratos team have been preparing for years to break the record for highest-altitude jump, eclipsing a mark set more than 52 years ago.

The capsule, which at about 1.315 kilogram, weighs a little bit more than a VW Beetle, was damaged in a hard landing following Baumgartner's final test jump from a near-record altitude of 29,610 metres in July.

During the jump, Baumgartner was freefalling at speeds of up to 864 kilometres per hour, or as fast as a commercial airliner. The Austrian landed safely in another part of the New Mexico desert.

On September 24, the repaired capsule underwent testing in an altitude chamber at Brooks City-Base in San Antonio, Texas.

The capsule was exposed to the extreme conditions it will face in the unforgiving environs of the stratosphere. After passing all the tests, the capsule was sent back to Roswell.

A central aim of the Red Bull Stratos project is to collect valuable data for science that could ultimately help improve the safety of space travel and enable high-altitude escapes from spacecraft.

The jump will also attempt to break an assortment of records such as highest speed in freefall, highest jump, highest manned balloon flight and longest freefall.

Thompson acknowledges that perfect weather conditions are needed for the delicate 850,000 cubic metres helium balloon, which is made of plastic that has 1/10th the thickness of a ziploc bag.

Mission meteorologist Don Day said: "Early fall in New Mexico is one of the best times of the year to launch stratospheric balloons."

Watch live - link to www.redbullstratos.com.