"There was a period of time where I really thought, 'I am in trouble'," the 43-year-old said after he successfully leapt into the stratosphere from a balloon hovering near the edge of space 24 miles above Earth, breaking three world records including the highest skydive ever.
"I was fighting all the way down to regain control because I wanted to break the speed of sound," he added, explaining that he almost hit a panic button to release a 'drogue' parachute to slow him down.
"And then I hit it," he smiled, clearly hugely relieved. "After a couple of seconds, I had that.. feeling I'm getting it under control. And I did. And that's why I broke the speed of sound."
Cheers broke out as Baumgartner jumped from a skateboard sized shelf outside the 11-by-8-foot fibreglass and acrylic capsule that was carried as high as 128,000 feet by an enormous balloon.
"We love you Felix!" screamed the crowd as he plunged through the stratosphere.
But the crowd knew nothing of the skydiver's problems. At one point a horizontal spin began that could have made him black out, or over-stressed the protective suit which, if torn, would have made his blood vaporise almost instantaneously.
"That spin became so violent it was hard to know how to get out of it," the new record-holder said.
"But I was able to get it under control and break the speed of sound."
After recovering from the spin no more problems arose, allowing the nerveless Austrian to enjoy the exhilaration of an incredible experience.
"On the step I felt that the whole world is watching. I said I wish they would see what I see," he said.
"It was amazing... I could feel myself break the speed of sound. I could feel the air building up and then I hit it."
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