For those who have ridden a roller coaster, picture the moment when you are rounding the top of a hill about to plummet into to what seems like infinity. Now imagine this feeling while being 24 miles above the ground. Thrill-seeker and daredevil Felix Baumgartner experienced this first hand as he became the first human to free fall at a speed of 833 miles per hour, breaking the speed of sound.
This 43 year-old Austrian skydiver broke multiple world records from his jump on Sunday, October 14, while many anxious spectators awaited his arrival back on the New Mexico desert. No one has ever accomplished a stunt such as this without a rocket or a jet.
Baumgartner takes the two and a half hour climb into space in his pressurized suit while the distance between the world and his feet becomes increasingly more severe. Awe-struck by the view from up high, Baumgartner uttered before his descent “I know the whole world is watching, I wish the whole world could see what I see. Sometimes you have to go up really high to see how small you really are.”
After the slightest hesitation, Baumgartner jumps off his transportation capsule held by a helium balloon, and plummets down towards the earth at a record-breaking speed, notes abcnews.com. The total fall only totaled to be around 8 to ten minutes, and he was in free fall for four minutes and twenty seconds of this time.
During this period of free fall, Baumgartner began to spin wildly out of control for about 35 seconds, and all of those who were watching held their breath, according to BBC News. He commented to media after the fall, “If you are in that situation and it spins you around like hell, you do not know if you can get out of that spin or not. Of course that is terrifying.” Despite this seemingly disastrous incident, Baumgartner got himself out of this unplanned spin and was able to land on his feet with the greatest of ease.
The sole connection Baumgartner had from the home base was Joe Kittinger, the man who set world record in 1960 for the longest skydive of 102,800 feet, 17,200 feet shorter than Baumgartner’s jump. Kittinger was an appropriate choice for an adventure such as this, and the only person Baumgartner chose to have contact with.
Having been in situations similar to Baumgartner’s record breaking jump, Kittinger was able to offer him some comforting words and advice before Baumgartner tipped off into the darkness: “There is our world out there. Our guardian angel will take care of you.” His words rang true as Baumgartner made his safe landing.
In order to take on a stunt as extreme as this, insane amounts of preparation and practice are necessary. Baumgartner has taken around 2,500 previous skydives, several including jumping off skyscrapers, which is no easy feat either. The plan for a jump as crazy as this was formulated in 2005 when Baumgartner decided he wanted to challenge the previous record set by Kittinger. When deciding on making a jump this dangerous, Baumgartner had to majorly take into consideration the risks and costs that come along with it as death was not entirely out of the question, BBC News writes. A more complete list of Baumgartner’s stunts can be found on his website, felixbaumgartner.com.
As for Baumgartner’s future as a BASE jumper, he is hoping to spend more time with his feet firmly planted on the ground. “Honestly, I want to inspire the next generation,” he said. “I would love if there was a young guy sitting next to me asking what my advice is, wanting to break my record.”
Anyone care to challenge?