On Sunday, October 14, 2012 Felix Baumgartner stepped off a small platform, and began to fall. He was falling from 128,000 feet, so he had some time to ponder the trip down. At his fastest, he was falling at 833.9 mph. Why jump? I like to think he did it so physics teachers around the world could use the video as a great demo of free fall and terminal velocity (perhaps he had other motivations). Fairly amazing. We would like to think he is some kind of super human, but it turns out he is a regular person like the rest of us – with fears and goals. He had panic attacks early on in the project (could not get used to free falling with the helmet on) and quit. He had second thoughts about leaving; came back to the project, and eventually worked his way through the fear. The project team had concerns about him tumbling out of control in the upper atmosphere, where there is not enough air to create drag which Felix would use to stabilize his fall. Sure enough, in the early part of the fall, you can see him tumbling. Once he got down to where there was more air resistance he was able to level off. As for the landing, he walked it in at a brisk 5mph (with the aid of a parachute). Watch the video here: Free fall Jump
