A new world record was just set for parachute jumping, with a leap of approximately 135,000 feet or almost 26 miles. The record setter was Google Senior Vice President Alan Eustace, who outdid previous record holder Felix Baumgartner‘s jump of 128,000 feet or nearly 24 miles.
To achieve this amazing feat, Eustace enlisted the technical assistance of Paragon Space Development Corporation, wore a custom-made space suit and used a 35,000 cubic foot helium balloon for his ascent.
Once he reached the upper edge of the stratosphere following a two hour climb, Eustace cut his rope and dropped back down to Earth for 15 minutes.
Eustace deployed his parachute after breaking the sound barrier and landed safely from his impressive jump.
Republished by permission. Original here.
Images: Video Stills
Getting to the point in the atmosphere where you can see the blackness of space and the edge of the world must be an exhilarating feeling. Kudos to Eustace for pulling it off without the fanfare.
Gosh, that’s courage…and trust. I could never do that, so it was nice to see clips of his experience.
Awesome! Not only is the space jump incredible. Eustace’s space suit is attached directly to the high-altitude balloon. That is revolutionary. Maybe we can all space jump someday.
It will be nice to have the option in the future for those who’d like to space jump. I imagine it would be an awesome experience. It would be quite expensive, I should imagine, but worth it.