Breaking the Sound Barrier

     Felix Baumgartner became the first person to break the sound barrier when he jumped from a height of 24 miles above the earth. Felix was about to jump and says all he could hope was “to come back alive.” There were more than 30 cameras capturing the whole thing. People watched live all over the world on the internet and on TV. The Discovery Channel showed it live.
    
     Kittinger, a man who tried to break the sound barrier in 1960, jumped from 19.5 miles above the Earth. He was there at mission control the day Felix jumped. Kittinger didn’t succeed in breaking the sound barrier. He did reach speeds of around 614 miles per hour though which is very impressive. Although Felix had farther to fall, he didn’t break the world’s longest free-fall record which was actually set by Kittinger when he jumped in 1960. Felix missed it by 16 seconds but he has the excuse that he didn’t know exactly when to pull the shot because his mask was fogging up.
    
     Felix spun uncontrollably for a while after jumping. He “felt pressure building in his head but wasn’t close to passing out.” He stated, “Of course it was terrifying. I was fighting all the way down because I knew that there must be a moment where I can handle it.”
    
     This jump was the last of many high altitude dives for Felix. He plans on flying helicopters for fire and rescue missions in the U.S. and Austria.
   
     It’s so awesome that Felix had the courage to attempt something like this. I’m not sure I could even try skydiving id be so terrified. I’m surprised that I didn’t hear more about this event before it happened. It sounds like it was a really big deal in some countries and everyone tried to watch it.