The Austrian Felix Baumgartner became the first man to cross the sound barrier in free fall after jumping from a capsule attached to a giant balloon to more than 39,000 m, Sunday in the sky of New Mexico , the United States, according to a spokesman for his team. Baumgartner, 43, broke the sound barrier after a few tens of seconds and was then able to open his parachute after 4 min 19 sec freefall. It reached a maximum speed of 1137 km / h, according to Sarah Anderson , a spokesman for the mission Red Bull Stratos.