Sunday, Austrian Felix Baumgartner rode a balloon to the edge of space, stepped off his balloon- borne capsule into a 128,100 feet, 830 mph, 4 minute, supersonic free fall.
It was the highest jump ever recorded, and at Mach 1.24, the fastest descent.
Temperature– minus 70 Fahrenheit.
Pressure– without the pressure suit, his blood would have vaporized.
This is just one example of the existential joys of engineering.
- Having a dream.
- Understanding the challenges.
- Engineering solutions.
- Daring to test them.
This is how science drives human progress.
In the future, astronauts will be better protected due to the lessons learned from Baumgartner’s Jump.
Congratulations to the Team at Red Bull!
You built that! With the help of a lot of skilled engineers, technicians and manufacturing talent.
We wrote about the Red Bull Stratos Project’s preliminary test flight earlier this year here.
