Felix Baumgartner became the first person to break the speed of sound on Sunday, while also making the highest jump EVER. He traveled more than 24 miles above Earth, while also traveling faster than the speed of sound on his way down. He was the first person to ever accomplish this without a craft or a jet. He said, “When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you do not think about breaking records anymore, you do not think about gaining scientific data.” He said he just wanted to come back alive. When he first jumped out of the balloon, he appeared to be spinning out of control on the way down. Eventually he did gain control, and with a pressurized suit on, apparently he did not feel the loud boom or pressure when he broke through the sound barrier. Over 8 million viewers tuned in to YouTube to watch this momentous experience- causing the site to break records itself. With the help of previous sound-barrier-breaker Joe Kittinger, the team could use his experiences to help accomplish this task.“We needed Joe Kittinger to help us break his own record and that tells the story of how difficult it was and how smart they were in the ’60s. He is 84 years old, and he is still so bright and intelligent and enthusiastic.” Read more at: http://www.latimes.com
I know I was captivated by this moving experience. Did anyone else watch live on YouTube and what were your thoughts?