Google executive's record 41km skydive

A Google executive has set a new record by jumping successfully from near the top of the stratosphere -- about 41,000 meters high, his project website said.

The record dive by 57-year-old Alan Eustace, who is a senior vice president at Google, was conducted as part of the Stratospheric Explorer project to allow manned exploration of the stratosphere above 100,000 feet.

According to a statement from Paragon Space Development Corporation, Eustace completed the four-hour mission over Roswell, New Mexico, using a specially designed space suit and balloon module to carry him to the stratosphere.

"Ascending at about 1,000 feet per minute, Alan achieved his target altitude in about two and a half hours," the statement said.

The previous record was set by Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner in 2012, jumping from a height of nearly 128,000 feet or 38,969 meters, also from New Mexico.