GPS Was a Key Technology in Baumgartner Red Bull Stratos Record Jump

Not surprisingly, GPS was one critical piece of technology involved in the record-setting Red Bull Stratos skydive by Felix Baumgartner today. In a jump that took five years and a team of more than 300 people to pull off, Baumgartner broke three records, including highest speed (834 mph, exceeding the speed of sound, at mach 1.24), highest jump (from 128,100 feet) and the longest freefall (119,846 feet). During the jump, Baumgartner wore a 12-pound chest pack (shown in the photo) containing his monitoring, tracking, and communications systems. The chest pack sent real-time data to the jump's ground team, and its powered GPS device captured and stored data for the purpose of documenting the jump's records. Image © Red Bull Stratos