I watched in awe as Felix Baumgartner made history with his Redbull Stratos jump from the edge of space this Sunday.

The suit Felix Baumgartner wore to break three world records in was designed by the David Clark Company, who have been designing and constructing space suits for over 50 years. This was the first suit the company has ever built for a private mission.

The model they utilized resembles the suits that are worn by pilots of high-altitude spy planes. The suit protects from extremely low temperatures and also from the pressure in the high altitudes.

“Ebullism” occurs under low pressure and causes the liquid in your tissue becomes gas and expand dangerously. Wearing a pressure suit prevents this from occurring.

This suit was specially designed to suit the needs of a skydiver. Skydivers require the ability to use specific body positions and visual cues. Mirrors were used to increase his visibility and according to the Redbull Stratos website, his suit will “serve as the prototype for the next-generation full-pressure suit.”

Check out the view from the camera equip on Baumgartner’s helmet in this video!

That ‘pack’ looking box attached to his suit chest housed Baumgartner‘s communication system, GPS and telemetry equipment. The pack was also equipt with an inertia measurement unit (IMU) which keeps track of altitude and spin. Somehow they even squeezed an HD camera into it also.

Baumgartner’s mission was to break records, and the excitement of the event certainly warranted a lot of attention, but excitement aside,  this mission actually helped researchers collect new data and will help them to research the safety of high altitude bail outs, which could save lives. Until Baumgartner’s jump on Sunday, the suits had never been tested in supersonic flight or certified beyond 30,480 metres.

Listen to Felix Baumgartner during his interview after the successful mission:

Watch the complete fall here: