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| Alan Eustace skydive: Watch Google executive break Felix Baumgartner's record – and the speed of sound | |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| Google executive, Alan Eustace, has broken the record for the highest parachute jump in history, breaking the sound barrier in the process. | Google executive, Alan Eustace, has broken the record for the highest parachute jump in history, breaking the sound barrier in the process. |
| He jumped from 135,000ft, or more than 25 miles, above the surface of the earth, smashing the 24-mile record set by Felix Baumgartner two years ago. | He jumped from 135,000ft, or more than 25 miles, above the surface of the earth, smashing the 24-mile record set by Felix Baumgartner two years ago. |
| “It was amazing,” Mr Eustace, 57, told the New York Times. “You could see the darkness of space and you could see the layers of atmosphere, which I had never seen before.” | “It was amazing,” Mr Eustace, 57, told the New York Times. “You could see the darkness of space and you could see the layers of atmosphere, which I had never seen before.” |
| "It was a wild, wild ride. I hugged on to the equipment module and tucked my legs and I held my heading,” he added. | "It was a wild, wild ride. I hugged on to the equipment module and tucked my legs and I held my heading,” he added. |
| The senior vice president at Google was lifted by a balloon containing 35,000 cubic feet of helium from an abandoned runway in New Mexico wearing a specially designed spacesuit. | The senior vice president at Google was lifted by a balloon containing 35,000 cubic feet of helium from an abandoned runway in New Mexico wearing a specially designed spacesuit. |
| It took more than two hours for the executive to reach the drop height, but just 4-and-half minutes to free fall to earth reaching speeds of up to 822mph. | It took more than two hours for the executive to reach the drop height, but just 4-and-half minutes to free fall to earth reaching speeds of up to 822mph. |
| The sky dive took three years of planning and preparation and happened with little media fanfare compared to previous record attempts. | The sky dive took three years of planning and preparation and happened with little media fanfare compared to previous record attempts. |
| Jim Hayhurst, director of competition at the United States Parachute Association, the jump's official observer, said: "This was a bunch of quiet engineers doing the job," he said. "This is a scientific endeavour. This is a stepping stone to space." | Jim Hayhurst, director of competition at the United States Parachute Association, the jump's official observer, said: "This was a bunch of quiet engineers doing the job," he said. "This is a scientific endeavour. This is a stepping stone to space." |
| Mr Eustace's supersonic jump was part of a project by Paragon Space Development Corporation and its Stratospheric Explorer team, which has been working secretly for years to develop a self-contained commercial spacesuit that would allow people to explore some 20 miles above the Earth's surface. | Mr Eustace's supersonic jump was part of a project by Paragon Space Development Corporation and its Stratospheric Explorer team, which has been working secretly for years to develop a self-contained commercial spacesuit that would allow people to explore some 20 miles above the Earth's surface. |
| Friday's success marked a major step forward in that effort, company officials said. | Friday's success marked a major step forward in that effort, company officials said. |
| "This has opened up endless possibilities for humans to explore previously seldom visited parts of our stratosphere," Grant Anderson, Paragon president and CEO, said in a statement. | "This has opened up endless possibilities for humans to explore previously seldom visited parts of our stratosphere," Grant Anderson, Paragon president and CEO, said in a statement. |
| Additional Reporting by AP | Additional Reporting by AP |