Google Senior VP Breaks Free-Fall Record

[Sarah LeBoeuf]

Google Senior VP Breaks Free-Fall Record


A 57-year-old Google executive and pilot parachuted from a death-defying height of 135,890 feet on October 24.

Want to set a world record for highest free fall? Well, you'll have to top Alan Eustace, the 57-year-old Google Senior Vice President of Knowledge who parachuted from an altitude of 135,890 feet yesterday. Eustace, a pilot and "avid skydiver," worked with Paragon Space Development Corporation on the jump, which wasn't revealed until after it took place on October 24.

The record was previously held by Felix Baumgartner, who made his famous plummet to Earth about two years ago. Baumgartner's 2012 fall from space [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131946-New-Video-Shows-Baumgartners-24-Mile-Supersonic-Space-Jump] was hugely publicized; the sponsored event was hyped for weeks before the eventual televised free fall. Eustace's methods differed from Baumgartner's; he was lifted by a "balloon filled with 35,000 cubic feet of helium" until he reached the optimal altitude, at which point he separated himself "with the aid of a small explosive device." The climb took about two hours; the descent was just 15 minutes, during which Eustace broke the sound barrier and caused an audible sonic boom traveling over 800 miles per hour.

Eustace's jump differed from Baumgartner's in another noteworthy way: it was carried out without publicity and sponsors, with the Google exec "working for almost three years with a small group of technologists skilled in spacesuit design, life-support systems, and parachute and balloon technology." His years of work paid off, and Eustace now holds the world record for jumping from the highest altitude.

Source: Paragon Space Development Corporation [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/25/science/alan-eustace-jumps-from-stratosphere-breaking-felix-baumgartners-world-record.html?_r=0]

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[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Oh, snap! That must suck for Felix.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

And here we see the difference between doing something just to see if you can do it, and doing something just for everyone else to see you do it.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Absolutely batshit insane. But cool. Especially due to not publicizing it in any way until afterward. Still think these people are nuts, but it would be interesting to see if these things contribute to safer ways of getting people out of space without them burning up in the atmosphere. Not that we have that much trouble with it but it would be nice if we could implement some emergency type re-entry vehicles based off of things like this.

 

[Xan Krieger]

And here we see the difference between doing something just to see if you can do it, and doing something just for everyone else to see you do it.

Basically this, when Felix did it we all thought he was nuts because nobody had done it before, now that we know it's possible it's less exciting when someone goes a little higher. It's like being the 2nd person to climb Mount Everest, once someone had proven it was possible it became less exciting.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Basically this, when Felix did it we all thought he was nuts because nobody had done it before,

Sorry to be 'that guy' but in 1960 during development for the space program a guy called Joe Kittinger jumped from over 100'000 feet, because how else would you test a space suit?

Felix broke his records obviously, but he was doing something that had not only been done, but done before the internet (which is why nobody ever heard of him).

 

[J Tyran]

Basically this, when Felix did it we all thought he was nuts because nobody had done it before,

Sorry to be 'that guy' but in 1960 during development for the space program a guy called Joe Kittinger jumped from over 100'000 feet, because how else would you test a space suit?

Felix broke his records obviously, but he was doing something that had not only been done, but done before the internet (which is why nobody ever heard of him).

Plus there was that U2 pilot that had to eject at around 70,000ft after being shot down in 1960, with this guy thats 4 people that have survived extreme high altitude jumps.

 

[Quantupus]

Sorry to be 'that guy' but in 1960 during development for the space program a guy called Joe Kittinger jumped from over 100'000 feet, because how else would you test a space suit?
.

Wasn't he the guy that talked Felix through the pre-jump procedures before Felix's jump?

 

[Barbas]

Well, good on him and everyone he worked with to make it possible. Musta been a heck of a rush!

 

[Spartan448]

the descent was just 15 minutes, during which Eustace broke the sound barrier and caused an audible sonic boom traveling over 800 miles per hour.

... Holy shit. That is just too awesome.

 

[Ishigami]

And here we see the difference between doing something just to see if you can do it, and doing something just for everyone else to see you do it.

No. Here we see the difference in needing sponsors who in return need publicity to warrant the expenses versus having all the required money in the petty cash.
Felix is rich no doubt about it, he allegedly owns about 10 million dollar, this dude probably earns 10 to 20 million a year

 

[small]

i cant be the only one who is sitting here thinking "oh i so would love to try that.. or be the first person vaporised by a fall from orbit"

 

[11zxcvb11]

please mr eustace, do this one next: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOOSE