Supersonic Skydiving and Startrails
Your daily dose of inspiration begins here with two phenomenal videos that exemplify the human spirit for adventure and the beauty of our universe. For centuries, people have dreamed of gliding like birds. The sport of skydiving grew in part out of this desire. More than half a century ago during Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior , humanity pushed this to an extreme with a series of jumps from the edge of space topping out at 31 kilometers altitude by Joe Kittinger in 1960. His record remained unchallenged until now. Sponsored by Red Bull Stratos , Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner made his historic stratospheric jump on October 14, 2012. Protected only his pressure suit made by the David Clark Company , he shattered several world records, while battling claustrophobia . Top Speed: 1,342.8 km/hr / 833.9 mi/hr (Mach 1.24 supersonic!) Jump altitude: 39.05 kilometers / 24.26 miles Vertical distance of freefall: 36.53 kilometers / 22.70 miles Total time freefall: 4