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FILE - In this 2010 photo provided by Red Bull Stratos, Felix Baumgartner makes a 25,000-foot high test jump for Red Bull Stratos. On Monday, Oct. 8, 2012 over New Mexico, Baumgartner will attempt to jump higher and faster in a free fall than anyone ever Red Bull Stratos, Luke Aikins, Associated Press
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FILE - In this Thursday, March 15, 2012 photo provided by Red Bull Stratos, Felix Baumgartner prepares to jump during the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos over Roswell, N.M. On Monday, Oct. 8, 2012 over New Mexico, Baumgartner will attempt to Red Bull Stratos, Jay Nemeth, Associated Press
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FILE - In this Friday Jan. 22, 2010 photo provided by Red Bull Stratos, Pilot Felix Baumgartner, left, shakes hands with United States Air Force Col. (Ret.) Joe Kittinger, right, following the Red Bull Stratos press conference in New York announcing Baumg The Associated Press
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FILE - In this Thursday, March 15, 2012 file photo provided by Red Bull Stratos, Felix Baumgartner salutes as he prepares to board a capsule carried by a balloon during the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, N.M. On Monday, Oct. 8, Red Bull Stratos, Joerg Mitter, Associated Press
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FILE - In this Friday Jan. 22, 2010 photo provided by Red Bull Stratos, Pilot Felix Baumgartner appears at a news conference in New York. On Monday, Oct. 8, 2012 over New Mexico, Baumgartner will attempt to jump higher and faster in a free fall than anyon Red Bull Stratos, Associated Press
By Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — One week to go, and skydiving history may be made.

Next Monday, "Fearless Felix" Baumgartner will attempt the highest, fastest free fall in history and try to become the first skydiver to break the sound barrier.

He plans to jump from a helium balloon 23 miles over the New Mexico desert and reach 690 mph, or Mach 1. He will be wearing a pressurized suit and helmet like an astronaut.

It is venture fraught with risks — including the possibility of deadly bubbles in the bloodstream and a massive clot in the brain.

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His chief medical adviser is a former NASA flight surgeon who lost his wife in the space shuttle Columbia disaster and has dedicated himself to improving astronauts' odds of surviving a high-altitude disaster.

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