Friday 31 January 2014

What it’s REALLY like to jump from space: New footage of Felix Baumgartner's jump reveals exactly what he saw on his terrifying descent

Terrifying new footage of Felix Baumgartner's space jump has revealed exactly what the jumper went through during the record-setting descent.
GoPro, the firm which built the cameras attached to the daredveil, released the new footage.
It shows the entire descent from Baumgartner's point of view - including the out of control spin that almost cost him his life.
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The moment Baumgartner span out is captured in unprecedented new detail
People across the world watched in awe - and horror - as daredevil Felix Baumgartner became the first freefall diver to break the sound barrier after jumping from a balloon 24.5 miles above the Earth.
'Fearless Felix' reached speeds of up to 834 mph before his parachute opened and he landed back on solid ground five minutes later to have completed the highest and fastest skydive in history.
Baumgartner became the first human to break the speed of sound during the jump, reaching a total speed of 833.9 mph.
He also set records for the highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump and the fastest speed achieved by a human through the atmosphere after jumping from 128,100 feet above the Earth for the Red Bull Stratos mission.
Felix Baumgartner broke the speed of sound after 34 seconds of free fall, ultimately accelerating to as high as 833.9 mph, or mach 1.24.
Mr Baumgartner made his death-defying jump from a tiny capsule that took him up to the edge of space, which took him two-and-a-half hours to travel 128,177ft above the New Mexico desert - and less than ten minutes to land.

He landed on his feet despite moments during the descent that had silenced his mission control as he appeared to lose control and plunge into a head-over-heels spin.
A chest-mounted camera capture's Baumgartner's helmet and the edge of space
A chest-mounted camera capture's Baumgartner's helmet and the edge of space

The spin where controllers lost touch with the daredevil is also revealed
The spin where controllers lost touch with the daredevil is also revealed

People who watched footage of the jump last year will remember how the daredevil fell to his knees and punched the air in triumph as the control room, packed with scientific experts and family including his teary-eyed mother, Eva, erupted into roars of applause.

Speaking afterwards he said: 'Trust me, when you stand up there on top of the world, you become so humble.

'It's not about breaking records any more. It's not about getting scientific data. The only thing you want is to come back alive.'
During the first part of Mr Baumgartner's free fall, anxious onlookers at the command centre held their breath as he appeared to spin uncontrollably.
A helmet mounted camera looking down from the capsule
A helmet mounted camera looking down from the capsule

Five cameras were attached to Baumgartner during his descent
Five cameras were attached to Baumgartner during his descent

'When I was spinning the first 10, 20 seconds, I never thought I was going to lose my life but I was disappointed because I'm going to lose my record. I put seven years of my life into this,' he said.
Trust me, when you stand up there on top of the world, you become so humble

Speaking after the jump Mr Baumgartner said: 'Trust me, when you stand up there on top of the world, you become so humble. It's not about breaking records any more. It's not about getting scientific data. The only thing you want is to come back alive'

Mr Baumgartner said his Stratos jump has proved that a human can survive accelerating though the sound barrier in freefall and scientists gathered a lot of information, including the first-ever physiologic data from a peron freefalling at supersonic speeds that could be used to inform future projects.
He added: 'In that situation, when you spin around, it's like hell and you don't know if you can get out of that spin or not. Of course it was terrifying. I was fighting all the way down because I knew that there must be a moment where I can handle it.'

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