Reply #23: The US Airforce has done some High Altitude jumps before...

[Pierre.Suave]

but not from 131,000.

The highest I could find was 102,000 ft.

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Dictionary/kittinger/DI29.htm

The third flight, on August 16, 1960, broke records. The Excelsior III climbed to 102,800 feet (31,333 meters), and on his descent, Kittinger freefell at speeds up to 614 miles per hour, approaching the speed of sound without the protection of an aircraft or space vehicle and experiencing temperatures as low as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 degrees Celsius). He was in freefall for 4.5 minutes before he opened his parachute at 18,000 feet (5,486 meters).