So, this weekend, I woke up to an intriguing event.
The Huffington Post posted a link on Facebook that lead me to a YouTube page where Felix Baumgartner floated his way up to the edge of space. Apparently, he was going to be a world-record holder for the longest free fall.
I felt like I was watching history; it was such an empowering and emotional event to witness.
It was as if I was watching an astronaut go to space. Well, it was almost that. Felix was adorning a space suit that would be pressurized for his 120,000 feet plummet. He was also transported in a silver bullet-looking vessel, that was reminiscent of the Apollo program.
Not long after, Baumgartner opened the hatch of his vehicle to the outside world, took a step, and free-fell back to Earth. He reportedly broke the sound-barrier and Mach 1 - the fastest a human being has ever fell.
After some scary tumbling through the air, Baumgartner managed to steady himself, and he readily opened his parachute when he neared the surface. It was an extremely captivating moment - how much man is capable of, and how maybe, someday, we will return to the moon.
Felix landed back on Earth after approximately ten minutes of falling, where he grazed the ground with his feet in a jogging-like manner. He then collapsed to his knees, and threw his hands up in victory.
“Mission Control,” which was Baumgartner’s means of communication, cheered with joy. Everything could not have been more perfect, and now Baumgartner’s feats have triumphed new research for science and technology that may be used in the future for space shuttle emergency evacuations.
What an extremely beautiful sight to behold. I highly recommend watching a video of it.
Article courtesy of CNN.
No comments:
Post a Comment