Car news

16 October 2012

Watch a supersonic man jump from space… again!

Felix Baumgartner is a multiple record breaker and our new hero

Rowan Horncastle
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Today, you can watch a man jump from space. And it's mental.

Sunday evening, Austrian sky diving ace and Buzz Lightyear enthusiast, Felix Baumgartner, sat in his helium-filled balloon for over two and a half hours as it ascended up to a height of 39,045 meters (128,100 feet). When it got there, he did some pre-flight checks, opened the door, stood on the edge of the capsule... and jumped.

In a 4.20 minute free fall - and exactly 65 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier flying in an experimental rocket-powered airplane - Felix did the same in his pressurised suit. Baumgartner topped out at a maximum of speed of 1,342.8kph before the atmosphere put the brakes on him and he parachuted back to terra firma.

When he landed on the ground, he was officially a multiple recorder breaker, now holding the record for highest altitude manned balloon flight, the highest altitude skydive and the world's first supersonic skydiver. Oh, and he's a new TopGear hero to boot.

We're so happy here in the TG office that we've decided to make a Baumgartner Beatz Vol 1 mixtape. The playlist currently consists of Van Halen - Jump, Queen - Under Pressure and Oasis - Supersonic. What else should we put on it dot commers?

Tags: felix baumgartner

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