OFFICIAL PICTURES - Skydiver Felix Baumgartner lands highest ever jump

Austrian Felix Baumgartner has broken the record for the highest ever skydive by jumping out of a balloon 128,000ft (24 miles, 39km) above New Mexico.

The 43-year-old was hoping also to break the sound barrier during his descent - although that mark awaits confirmation.

Video cameras relayed the moment Baumgartner stepped from his balloon capsule to begin his fall to Earth.

It took just under 10 minutes for him to reach the desert surface below.

Only the last few thousand feet were negotiated by parachute. Once down, he fell to his knees and raised his fists in triumph. Helicopter recovery teams were on hand moments later.

None of the new marks set by Baumgartner can be classed as "official" until approved by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI).

Preparing to fall to Earth: 'Fearless' Felix's 23-mile supersonic skydive to go ahead TODAY

Officials have given the all-clear for extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner to attempt the world's first supersonic skydiver with a 23-mile free fall over New Mexico this morning.

His team said the weather appeared favourable as his team began unpacking his 30-million cubic foot helium balloon that will hoist a 3,000-pound capsule carrying him 23 miles up into the sky. 

He is hoping to become the first skydiver to break the sound barrier by jumping from a capsule floated more than 120,000 feet into the stratosphere by an ultra-thin, 55-story helium balloon.

The jump was postponed due to wind Monday, then aborted twice more for the same reason on Tuesday and Thursday. Meteorologists say conditions will finally be favorable for the jump Sunday morning.

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The balloon is so delicate that it can take off only if winds on the ground are 2 mph or less.

Baumgartner is disappointed 'like the rest of us' but taking a couple of days of critical downtime, his high-performance athletic trainer, Andy Walshe, said Wednesday.

Space Shuttle Endeavour to Head to California

Endeavour shown here atop a modified Boeing 747 in
anticipation of its upcoming ferry flight.

Endeavour – the last NASA shuttle ever constructed – is slated to journey to a new home this week, as it prepares to leave Kennedy Space Center aboard a modified Boeing 747 and head toward Los Angeles, California.

After a series of delays due to anticipated thunderstorms along Endeavour’s route, the scheduled ferry flight has been pushed back to a Wednesday morning sunrise takeoff.

NASA officials say they are currently discussing how the delays will affect Endeavour’s flight plan, which was originally slated to include a stop in Houston ahead of a Thursday arrival in L.A. The space shuttle is now expected to arrive on Friday.

Built to replace Challenger after the tragic loss of the shuttle in 1986, Endeavour made a total of 25 missions before its retirement in the spring of last year. During those missions, the shuttle covered 122,883,151 miles, spent 299 days in orbit and accomplished a number of major milestones, including the delivery of the first American-made component to the International Space Station and the flight of the first African-American female astronaut into space.