Featured Image Credit: Red Bull / YouTube
In 2012 Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner took a helium balloon to space and made the groundbreaking skydive back to Earth. More recently, he's reflected on the monumental jump.
Working with scientists and sponsor Red Bull, it took around six years to prepare for the jump. On 14 October 2012, Baumgartner flew around 24 miles (39km) into the stratosphere over New Mexico before free falling in a suit made specially for this jump.
Speaking to CNN Baumgartner said: “I’m standing there on top of the world outside of a capsule in space and in the stratosphere. I looked around the sky above me was completely black.”
The jump was live streamed on YouTube at the time, with over 8 million people tuning in.
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To get Baumgartner into space, the team had to develop a helium balloon the size of 33 football pitches, weighing in at around 3,708lbs which took up to 20 people to move. Incredibly, the balloon was made of delicate material no thinner than a sandwich bag.
After uttering those now-famous words 'Sometimes you have to go up to understand how small you are. I’m coming home now' Baumgartner began his descent to Earth.
It took him around nine minutes to fall back to Earth, four of which were spent in complete free fall. But probably the scariest moment was when he began to spin.
Incredibly in the footage you can see Baumgartner start to spin faster and faster.
In an interview with CNN, Baumgartner reflected on that moment.
Baumgartner said: “Once I was on my way, I slowly started to spin in one direction, then I start spinning in the opposite direction, and then I really started spinning faster and faster and faster.”
Baumgartner explains in a video with Red Bull that he tried to move his arms around a little which helped to stop the spinning for a second, but then he began to spin in the opposite direction with the speed really 'ramping up'. Baumgartner said at that moment it was no longer about breaking records, it was all about 'survival'.
Speaking to CNN, Baumgartner said: “This was a very alarming moment because there is no protocol.”
All this was happening while he was falling at incredible speeds of up to 843 mph (1357 kmh), which broke the speed of sound.
Luckily Baumgartner eventually passed through the Armstrong line, where the air becomes thicker, meaning Baumgartner was able to stabilize himself and the spinning eased — to applause back at the base camp in New Mexico.
When Baumgartner was told the news that he had in fact broken the speed of sound he was thrilled, saying: “At that moment I was really happy and satisfied because to me, breaking the speed of sound as a human, the first human in history, that was definitely something.”
