“Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you are” – Felix Baumgartner
Even if you don’t know the name Felix Baumgartner, there is a chance you may have seen him flying through the skies when he completed a death-defying mission last week. The Austrian skydiver has literally fallen into headlines across the globe after successfully completing the highest ever skydive. With the backing of corporate giant Red Bull, Baumgartner had been working with a special team of scientists since 2010 in order to make the jump possible. The support of the drinks company proves its tagline that it really does ‘give you wings.’
After two planned launches which were both delayed due to the weather, on the 14th October 2012 the daredevil boarded the capsule that would take him up by an attached helium balloon and began the two and a half hour ascent to 24 miles or 129,000 feet in the stratosphere. Space, for man, begins at about 62,000 feet when the air is too thin to withhold and the body’s blood will begin to boil. In order to complete the dive, he wore a specially designed pressurised suit made by the same company that make equipment for astronauts. It was only fitting that Joseph Kittinger, the previous record holder for the highest skydive and mentor to Baumgartner, was the only person in direct communication with his challenger. Before giving Baumgartner the green light, he told him to turn on the camera’s broadcasting live around the world, and that “our guardian angel will take care of you.”
After taking the jump into history, there was a tense minute or so when the diver appeared to be spiralling round and round as opposed to falling straight. Luckily having completed an incredible 2,500 previous jumps, Felix was able to stabilise his dangerous position. After a nerve-racking 4 minutes and 19 seconds free-fall his deployed his parachute to cheers from his team as the world watched him glide down to solid ground. Reaching an incredible velocity of 834mph, the Austrian daredevil is the first individual to break the sound barrier without any vehicular power. Although he failed to break the record for the longest time in free-fall, the skydiver cannot possibly be disappointed given he did break three out of four endeavours also including the record for the highest manned balloon flight and highest skydive.
As well as breaking many records, the Red Bull Stratos Jump had an important scientific function. The team believe that the jump has provided invaluable research into the development of high performance and high altitude parachute systems. Moreover, it will aid the development of emergency exit procedures from a spacecraft passing through the stratosphere.
Before taking his step off the balloon he looked down at the planet and said “sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you are.” He claimed that the experience was humbling, and in the moments when he looked down at his homeland, he no longer felt the pressure to make history, but his greatest wish was simply to make it home. Baumgartner’s jump was an incredible feat of mankind; many individuals watching may have felt a sense of déjà vu with Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the mood. Baumgartner’s words were an echo of Armstrong’s in 1969 when he said, “I put up my thumb and it blotted out the planet Earth.” Baumgartner’s skydive has shown the astonishing progress of man’s endeavours in space that has taken place in the life of one generation. Although his next jump may not be for some time given that he will soon take the plunge into married life, Felix’s awesome stunt has cemented his place as a living legend.
Photo Credits: www.wikipedia.org and www.dailymail.co.uk