If you didn’t spend some part of your Sunday afternoon watching “Fearless Felix” Baumgartner’s record-setting free-fall from space, then you owe it to yourself to check this guy out right now.
Daredevils (like Toure) and regular wimps (like me) can all agree: this jump definitely makes Felix the King. Radars clocked him at 833.9 mph – making him the first person to travel faster than the speed of sound wearing only a pressurized suit. But the sound barrier wasn’t the only thing Felix broke this weekend. The 43-year old Austrian daredevil jumped from over 24 miles in the air (128,100 feet) making it the highest jump ever attempted – a record previously held by the man directing Baumgartner’s Mission Control room, Joe Kittinger.
I know I wasn’t the only one holding their breath while watching. Nor was I alone in wondering what would bring someone to do this. The best explanation offered so far? To see if it can be done. It’s kind of like asking why the chicken would cross the road; human beings test known limits to see if they can get to the other side. After landing feet-first back on Earth, Felix told reporters: “Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are.” Watching this jump, I was amazed, terrified, and inspired at the ambition of the human race and people like Felix Baumgartner. This human, however, will keep her feet firmly planted on the ground. I’ll let the crazies and the daredevils handle the limit-pushing.
Congrats, Felix! Tell us what you thought of the death-defying stunt below in comments.
Ali Vitali is MS NOW's senior congressional correspondent and the host of "Way Too Early." She is the author of "Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House … Yet." Recommended
