On Tuesday, the scheduled “space jump” by extreme skydiver Felix Baumgartner slated to break the sound barrier as well as the highest skydive was cancelled because of wind. According to the Red Bull Stratos website, the mission was “aborted due to gusty winds" at 1:42 p.m. ET.

"Today's launch has been aborted at 11:42hrs MDT due to wind gusts making an attempt too risky," an official statement read on the website.

Baumgartner was placed in the capsule set to launch from Roswell, N.M. where it would travel 120,000 feet above ground before his 700 mile per hour descent to Earth from the edge of space. Baumgartner was expected to shatter several records, becoming the first person to break the speed of sound barrier in a free-fall dive from an altitude of 120,000 feet and embark on the longest free-fall at an estimated five minutes and 35 seconds.

The space jump was initially schedule to begin at 7 a.m. in New Mexico but was first delayed by the wind. The event was live streamed on the Red Bull Stratos website.

"We need 3 mph or less at 800 feet," mission meteorologist Don Day said, adding that chances of the dive happening today were "50-50." Although winds close to the ground were one to two miles per hour, winds in the stratosphere were up to 20 miles per hour.

Day had said if the launch was cancelled on Tuesday, it would likely happen on Thursday.

Baumgartner, sponsored by Red Bull, was set to break the record for the highest free-fall jump to the Earth at 120,000 feet, or nearly 23 miles, up in the air. If successful, Baumgartner, who has been nicknamed “Fearless Felix,” will also break the sound barrier before landing in New Mexico wearing nothing but a space suit and helmet. Baumgartner said he will be traveling at speeds over 700 miles per hour for the first 115,000 feet before opening a parachute for the last 5,000 feet, all in 10 minutes.

Baumgartner was set to break the 52-year-old record set by U.S. Air Force Colonel Joe Kittinger in 1960 at 102,800 feet.

Space