Alan Eustace—a 57-year-old computer scientist and senior vice president with Google—broke the world record for longest free-fall in history today.
Eustace ascended some 25 miles up in a hot air balloon, dangling underneath in a specially-designed spacesuit outfitted with life support systems. He then jumped off and plummeted back down to earth, landing after about 15 minutes of total free-fall. His speed peaked at an astonishing 822 miles per hour, faster than the speed of sound.
“It was amazing,” he said. “It was beautiful. You could see the darkness of space and you could see the layers of atmosphere, which I had never seen before.”
He breaks the record of Felix Baumgartner, who had accomplished a similar feat almost exactly two years ago. So, what did this actually accomplish? Well, nothing really. But hey, at least he didn’t get Ebola!
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[via NYT]
