In 2008, I was made aware of Captain Joe Kittinger who jumped from 102,000 or so feet and set the record for longest free fall and highest jump among other things (thanks to my physics professor in her attempt to teach us about free fall). Then, this past Sunday October 14, 2012 I had the fortune to watch Felix Baumgartner jump from about 127,000 feet. And man, was it ever epic. Both men were amazingly brave and patient to go through with their projects. I cannot imagine hurtling towards the earth from so high up yet I imagine neither of them will ever forget it. Go science!
And yet still, I see them both differently. Kittinger did it in 1960, when technology was nowhere near where it is now. He easily could have died. In fact, his right glove malfunctioned on the way up and caused his hand to swell twice its size, but he kept going. For the experiment. Not to take away from Felix because I could never do what he did, but the tech was so much better this time 52 years later. It was still f---ing amazing but somehow just not as impressive.
Personal opinion. Both guys rock and have collected so much valuable data that it doesn't really matter. Just thought I would put that put there.
