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Felix Baumgartner skydives from 29 kilometres above Earth

The Austrian daredevil completes his second test jump as he practices for a world record jump

Daredevil Felix Baumgartner leaped from a capsule attached to a helium balloon from more than 29 kilometres above the Earth to reach a top speed of 862 km/h before deploying his parachute. He was in freefall for three minutes and 48 seconds before pulling the chute.

[ Related: Austrian skydiver plans record-breaking jump from space ]

Wednesday's jump was his second stratospheric leap as he trains to break the world record, jumping from 37 kilometres up. On that jump, which he is hoping to do in about a month, he'll be hoping to break the speed of sound with just his body and hit a top speed of 1,126 km/h.

"It felt completely different at 90,000 feet (27,400 metres), he said in a Mirror article. "There is no control when you exit the capsule. There is no way to get stable."

For these jumps, Baumgartner wears a full-pressure suit that has an oxygen supply because there is virtually no atmosphere at those heights.

[ Related Gallery: Baumgartner falls to Earth ]

The person who currently holds the record for highest jump is Joe Kittinger. The now 84-year-old jumped from 31 kilometres up in 1960 for the Air Force. He monitored Baumgartner's jump over Roswell, New Mexico Wednesday.

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Baumgartner completed his first test jump on March 15, 2012 when he jumped from almost 22 kilometres and reached speeds of 580 km/h. Only two test jumps are planned.

Baumgartner isn't only doing these jumps to break records and to have fun, he's helping NASA. The space agency is paying close attention to his jumps as they are hoping to learn more about potential escape systems for spacecraft.

(Reuters photo)