A 34-year-old man will attempt to become the first person to fly unassisted across the English Channel tomorrow by jumping from 30,000 feet and turning himself into a human glider.
"I'm my own plane," said the Austrian-born Felix Baumgartner, who will don an aerodynamic jump suit with 6ft carbon-fibre wing strapped to his back for the attempt.
Weather permitting, the former mechanic and motorcross driver will jump from a plane over Dover at around 4am, a time cleared by air traffic controllers.
He could reach speeds of up to 220mph and encounter temperatures as low as -50C and will have an oxygen supply for the start of his journey.
He hopes to land, 10 minutes after he leaps out of the plane, at a site near Calais. He is calling the challenge Icarus Two.