On this day 12 years ago, history was written. Felix Baumgartner jumped from a helium balloon capsule at an initial altitude of 38,969 meters (127,851 feet). He reached a top speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph) during his 9.38 minutes free fall.
by DavideFDP
25 Comments
That guy was also the first person to break the sound barrier without using any vehicles, iirc.
There was actually a Goolge manager who broke this record shortly after (Alan Eustace irrc). Unfortunately for him he did not have Red Bull sponsering so hardly anyone knows 😉
Google’s then vice president broke the record 2 years and 13 days later without this media bullshit like a real Chad
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/felix-baumgartner-s-recordbreaking-skydive-broken-by-google-executive-alan-eustace-as-he-jumps-from-135-000ft-9817887.html
Edit: correct timespan added
Fuck me. 12 years ago? I remember watching this live and it was insane.
Was he in 2K? Or was that the guy from the office?
Fuck dude it’s been 12 years I feel like this literally happened a couple of years ago.
He caused a sonic boom!
I remember his spin and thinking.. he’s fucked. Fortunately history proved me wrong
He said “The only thing standing between you and your goal is a shitton of funding from Red Bull.” Haha dudes a legend.
Yes, we remember
https://i.redd.it/3swa8yeqvpud1.gif
Radius of the Earth is 6,250 km. If a giant sink hole opened beneath you, and you were to free fall to the centre of the earth at terminal velocity (200 km/h), you would be falling for 1 day and 7 hours before you got there. That is not taking any gravitational differences into account.
The clip of him getting hit by a ball and falls is quite funny.
I watched it live while listening to Gangnam style on repeat
This guy and the dude who jumped without a parachute should train and mentor someone willing to go even higher without a parachute… RedBull hit me up, I’ll give it a go!
Unfornately is Felix Red Bulls Kevin Sorbo
Obligatory Boards of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy https://youtu.be/A2zKARkpDW4?si=QmT1iqlIJah57twu
12 years ago ? Oh shit.
12 years ago?! Wow, feels like it was much more recent than that.
That is one of the most incredible things a human has done
Interestingly enough that very record was broken a few years later (2014) yet no one talks about it.
What would of happened if he got cold feet all of a sudden while up there?
Did he then have the option to just wait for the balloon to descend or would it keep on ascending?
PS: Looked it up and found the following text about this:
“Once Felix has safely landed, Mission Control will trigger the separation of the capsule and balloon, so that the capsule can descend under its parachute. A nylon ‘destruct line’ will release the helium so that the balloon also safely returns to Earth.”
Came to the comments to see if anyone dropped the link to the video. And nope. Just everyone saying “I remember this” while also trying their best to be funny.
Here it is since no one else did. [Felix Jump](https://youtu.be/Hz2F_S3Tl0Y?si=1VEO-2YopLdbhLRW)
I remember this well because on the same day I was playing football in the garden and stepped on a ground wasp nest. Fun day.
And he spun out of control for a little while too which was ***fucking crazy***
The record was broken shortly after this and Baumgartner also turned into a “we live in a dictatorship and the refugees steal us everything”-nut job. But I guess it’s a valuable lesson what gets media coverage and what not