'Fearless Felix' comes home to Austria

[October 27, 2012]  SALZBURG, Austria (AP) -- Supersonic skydiver Felix Baumgartner has finally come home after his death-defying, record-breaking leap from the edge of space.

The Austrian former military parachutist faced reporters in his home city of Salzburg on Saturday, nearly two weeks after his plunge from a balloon to the New Mexico desert made him the first person to reach supersonic speed without traveling in a jet or spacecraft.

Baumgartner says it's been a "very turbulent" few days and weeks and that preparing to jump was a "very, very overwhelming" experience. Before returning home, he met in New York with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Baumgartner says of his jump, the result of years of planning: "Courage and this absolute will to accomplish something paid off."

[Associated Press]

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