Red Bull not just gives you wings, as a famous ad says, but has been experimenting with skydiving in stratosphere. Back in 2010, the brand announced the launch of a bold project Red Bull Stratos in collaboration with a courageous Austrian sky jumper and aviation pioneer Felix Baumgartner, who was to undertake a stratospheric balloon flight to more than 120,000 feet (36,576 meters) and make a record-breaking freefall jump in the attempt to become the first man to break the speed of sound (864 kilometers per hour).

After two years of training and technical preparations, on 25th July 2012 Baumgartner was lucky to perform a highest-altitude near-record jump from the edge of space (97,145.7 feet / 29,610 meters) to break 52-year old record of the longest freefall, however his ascent capsule suffered a hard landing on rough terrain, thus was shipped back to Sage Cheshire Aerospace in California to be repaired.

Photo: The Red Bull Stratos Capsule (above) and Felix Baumgartner in the process of training (below)

Then capsule was thoroughly tested and found to be safe for human flight with an altitude chamber simulation. Now, the second attempt is set to go on 8 October 2012.

While one may think that Red Bull Stratos is just a crazy fun project, it does have a huge scientific importance, as it provides valuable data for both doctor and engineers  that could ultimately help improve the safety of space travel (i.e. commercial, soon to be run by Virgin Galactic) and enable high-altitude escapes from spacecraft.

In addition to aerospace projects, such as Stratos and Red Bull Flugtag, the brand supports extreme sports initiatives such as Red Bull Candola and music festivals such as ULTRA Music (Red Bull Showed the ‘Mind Meld’ Project Mapping), Red Bull’s Beat Suite and its long-lasting initiative Red Bull Music Academy.

Watch a 3-second video of the fall here: