has held the world's record for the longest human freefall in history for fifty years, and it looks like he'll be hanging on to it a little bit longer. Red Bull's Stratos Challenge, in which pilot Felix Baumgartner would freefall from 120,000 feet , has been put on indefinite hold "with immediate effect" as a pending multi-million dollar lawsuit from Austrian promoter Daniel Hogan works its way through the legal circuit.

Hogan and his team reportedly met with Red Bull in 2004 on several occasions with detailed plans on how to break Kittinger's record, among other aerospace feats. These meetings included a rendezvous with Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire owner of Red Bull, in Austria, but the project did not advance and the relationship dissolved in 2005. Red Bull GmbH announced the new project, Stratos, in January, in which Baumgartner was positioned to be the first parachutist to break the sound-barrier, leaping from a capsule suspended from a helium balloon some 20 miles into the stratosphere, with no mention of Hogan. The lawsuit, filed in April and now in Los Angeles Superior Court, purports this event is possible only because of the plans Hogan laid forth in their initial meetings, both of technical specifications and publicity possibilities.

Hogan claims Red Bull remained interested in investing millions throughout discussions of the project, then dubbed "Space Dive", before terminating the freefall with a strongly worded e-mail to Hogan in 2005. One of Hogan's team members during that proposal was Kittinger himself, who now sits as an advisor to Red Bull on the Stratos Challenge, and was present at Red Bull's unveiling of Baumgartner as their stratospheric man. Hogan's suit maintains technical specifics were given to Red Bull regarding proper suiting, vessel trajectories and monitoring equipment appropriate for the mission. Media partners such as National Geographic, in discussions for Hogan's initial proposal, are now on board with the current incarnation of the project, along with the BBC. The lawsuit proposes Hogan is entitled to punitive damages and profits earned from Stratos Challenge, which could be in excess of $600 million, depending on corporate sponsorship.

Kittinger's leap in 1960 from the Excelsior III was from 102,800 feet, his body hitting speeds of 640mph. He was in freefall for four minutes and 36 seconds, before deploying his parachute at 18,000 feet, setting Air Force records for highest parachute jump and the highest speed achieved by anyone propelling themselves through the atmosphere. Redbull proposed a fall of 120,000 feet, in which Baumgartner would leap from its Stratos balloon, reaching speeds of 700-plus mph (known in sonic circles as Mach 1, in civilian-speak it's the speed of sound), making the stunt the first deliberate supersonic parachute jump. Baumgartner would of course adorn a custom $200,00 spacesuit utilizing technology unavailable in 1960, supplying oxygen and pressure-stabilizing mechanisms, minimizing the dangers to the human body inherent at such altitudes and speeds. Kittinger has been reportedly instrumental to the construction of these new full pressure suits, providing his 50 years of experience of the physiological effects of near-space.

Stratos was in its final preparations to proceed with the jump, allegedly launching the balloon in New Mexico. Red Bull's official statement on the lawsuit: "Despite the fact that many other people over the past 50 years have tried to break Colonel (Ret.) Joe Kittinger's record, and that other individuals have sought to work with Red Bull in an attempt to break his record, Mr. Hogan claims to own certain rights to the project and filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit earlier this year in a Californian court. Red Bull has acted appropriately in its prior dealings with Mr. Hogan, and will demonstrate this as the case progresses. Due to the lawsuit, we have decided to stop the project until this case has been resolved."

Baumgartner already has a few records under his belt, such as the highest parachute jump off a building when he leapt from the Patronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur in 2004 (1,482 feet), and the lowest BASE jump recorded in 2006, falling from one of the hands of Christ the Redeemer in Rio De Janeiro, which is only 90 feet off the ground, but he parachuted into the favalas below the Corcovado mountain, which is 2300 feet above sea level. This BASE jump was also sponsored by Red Bull.

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