Michel Fournier, a 64 year old French ex-army officer, will tomorrow attempt he what calls, The Great Leap, a jump to be taken literally in the upper stratosphere (approximately 130,000 ft. or 25 miles up), where one can see the separation between the blue sky, and the darkness of space.  He will take a two hour trip to this altitude on a helium balloon, for a 15-minute fall back down.  In doing so he aims to set 4 world records, and break the sound barrier.

This is no mere parachute leap (which are usually done between 10,000 and 20,000 feet high), as the stunt is fraught with multiple perils.  This outline from the New York Times illustrates the magnitude of what Fournier will try to do.