You may not have heard of Felix Baumgartner until last week, but if you don’t feel an undeniable sense of awesomeness when you hear his name now, then get ready to get schooled on arguably the coolest daredevil in our galaxy.
It was one small step for man, one giant leap from the edge of space when Baumgartner completed his death-defying mission on Sunday. This 43-year-old Austrian was born to fly. An avid skydiver since the age of 16, he’s no stranger to adrenaline and adventure. In 1988, he teamed up with Red Bull for various skydiving exhibitions and with his incomparable fearlessness and Red Bull’s innovative thinking; they seemed to be a match made in the sky. As if breaking numerous records for base-jumping wasn’t enough, Baumgartner and Red Bull decided the sky wasn’t the limit – they were going to fly even higher.
Five years later and with the help of a team of over 300 scientists, technicians, engineers, doctors and various geniuses, they were going to attempt their mission, “Red Bull Stratos.” As millions of people held their breath, adjusted themselves uncomfortably on the edge of their seats and tuned in to watch Baumgartner look down on the surface of the earth from more than 24 miles up, it felt as though this was too remarkable to be true. For the entire 4 minute and 19 second free-fall, we were able to tune in and watch history being made before our nervous eyes.
For older generations, it was scientific minds being blown as Neil Armstrong took his first step onto the moon in 1969. This was our moment. In a stand-still for NASA space missions, we got to see the most fascinating, unbelievable and downright crazy moment as Baumgartner came plummeting down to Earth at speeds up to 833 mph. Breaking the sound barrier, breaking world records and thankfully not breaking anything on his body. As Scottish band Twin Atlantic’s “Free” blasted through the speaker upon completion of the mission and Baumgartner kissed the ground, I’ve never witnessed something that so utterly captured the word “monumental.” Red Bull didn’t just give wings to Baumgartner, but those watching as well. Watch the video and see for yourself. The video: http://www.redbullstratos.com/gallery/?mediaId=media1900707044001
Source: http://www.redbullstratos.com