It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Actually, it’s better than that: it’s a man jumping to Earth from space!
That’s right: on Sunday, October 14, Felix Baumgartner, an extreme athlete from Austria, was flown to the edge of space and then jumped back to Earth landing in a desert in Roswell, New Mexico. He has become the first skydiver in history to fall faster than the speed of sound!
Felix was flown 128,100 feet above Earth in a small space capsule, making it the highest height any skydiver has ever jumped from. When he jumped, the visor on his helmet fogged up, so he was unable to open his parachute at the correct moment. He ended up opening it just a bit earlier than planned, but it all worked out as he landed safely to many cheers and applause.
Previous attempts at this mission have led to tragedy and, though there was the same chance of tragedy this time around as well, we’re very glad that Felix successfully completed this extraordinary feat!
Check out this spectacular video of Felix’s jump:
(Photo by Ross Franklin, AP)