(Newswire.net — October 25, 2014) — A well-known computer scientist parachuted from a balloon near the top of the stratosphere on Friday, falling faster than the speed of sound and breaking the world altitude record set just two years ago.
Alan Eustace, 57, a senior vice president of Google, was lifted at dawn from an abandoned runway, in a balloon filled with 35,000 cubic feet of helium.
Mr. Eustace ascent to the edge of stratosphere in specially designed spacesuit attached to a balloon. The ascent lasted a little over two hours. From more than 25 miles altitude, he was falling towards ground for 15 minutes, breaking a sound barrier at speeds that peaked at 822 miles per hour. People waiting on the ground heard a little sonic boom he set.
“It was amazing,” Eustace 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 did not feel or hear the boom as he passed the speed of sound, he said. Before a small parachute stabilized him, Eustace performed two slow backflips.
“It was a wild, wild ride,” he said. “I hugged on to the equipment module and tucked my legs and I held my heading.”
Mr. Eustace’s maximum altitude was initially reported as 135,908 feet. The previous altitude record was 128,100 feet set by Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner on Oct. 14, 2012.
“To break an aviation record is incredibly significant,” said Mark Kelly, the former astronaut, who viewed Mr. Eustace’s ascent. “There is an incredible amount of risk. To do it safely is a testament to the people involved.”
There was no expensive capsule involved, TV cameras nor millions of dollars in sponsorship money. Mr. Eustace planned his jump in secrecy for almost three years, working with a small group of technologists that designed a life-support space suit. He carried modest GoPro cameras aloft, connected to his ground-control center with an off-the-shelf radio.
“Alan is a risk-taker with a passion for details,” said Brian Reid, a computer network specialist who has worked with Mr. Eustace.
Mr. Eustace said Google had been willing to help with the project, but he declined company support, worrying that his jump would become a marketing event.