Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Felix's freefall

Congratulations Felix Baumgartner- and well done for your fantastic freefall from the edge of space. As you stepped off the platform of the gondola over 35km above Earth, for just a moment I thought you might do a Buzz LightYear ... spreading wings and instead of falling you would soar upwards ... "to infinity and beyond". But you didn't ... but you did achieve the speed of sound on your fall to earth, making yours the fastest freefall on record. But not necessarily the longest - something to do with the fogging-up of your helmet visor and an early deployment of your parachute? But it was wonderful to see that the man who held (still holds) that record was on your support crew - Joe Kittinger (now 84) who back in 1960 did the freefall from a balloon 31km high. This is truly the stuff of legends - that leap of faith when you (and he) stepped out into space (well, almost space!) and fell to earth!

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