Felix Baumgartner jumped from his capsule at the edge of space.
Imagine climbing into a space capsule and being lifted by a balloon to an altitude of more than 24 miles. Then picture jumping out of the capsule and skydiving all the way back to Earth! Well, that’s just what Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner did on October 14, 2012. On his jump, Baumgartner broke records for the highest manned balloon flight and the highest altitude jump. He also became the first person to travel faster than the speed of sound without using a jet or other vehicle.
On the day of the jump, Baumgartner put on a spacesuit to protect him from the harsh environment at the edge of space. Then, a 750-foot-tall helium-filled balloon lifted the capsule carrying Baumgartner from the launch site in Roswell, New Mexico. As the capsule rose higher and higher, Joe Kittinger spoke with Baumgartner from the mission control center in Roswell. Kittinger is a former fighter pilot who had held the previous record for the highest altitude jump since 1960. Kittinger guided Baumgartner through a list of tasks that he needed to complete before he could make his daring skydive.
Once Baumgartner reached an altitude of 128,100 feet, he walked out of the capsule onto a step, saluted, said a few words, and then jumped. For several seconds, he spun out of control. However, he soon got out of the spin and continued falling for 4 minutes, 20 seconds. He reached supersonic speeds, or speeds faster than sound. At about 5,000 feet, Baumgartner opened his parachute and floated safely to the ground. His successful jump proved that it is possible for a person to skydive from an extremely high altitude and survive. This knowledge could help engineers develop new escape systems for astronauts or pilots flying at high altitudes.
Image credit: ©AP Photo/Red Bull Stratos
Related Link
- NASA Lunar Science Institute
See a video of Felix Baumgartner’s historic jump.
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