Who is Alan Eustace?

Felix Baumgartner set the world record free fall on October 14, 2012.  He was the first man to break the sound barrier and jumped from the highest altitude.  He survived, he is 50 years old today and very successful.  He helped NASA look at the possibility of saving astronauts in mid flight.  The question being could humans survive a free fall from space?  Felix determined this was very possible.

All good things come to an end...along came Alan Eustace, CEO of Google.  In October 2014 he broke Baumgartner's record. He successfully jumped 135,908 feet!  He also traveled 822 miles per hour before hitting the troposphere. 

What was different about his jump?  He didn't use a capsule, he worked with a team to create a suit that would protect him. 

Like Baumgartner, he used a helium filled balloon for his lift up into the stratosphere and a special exploding mechanism that released him into free fall.  Want to read more?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11187385/Google-executive-breaks-Felix-Baumgartner-s-space-jump-world-record.html

What is the driving force for these wanna-be astronauts?  They both wanted to do something to benefit human kind.  Eustace wants to create a suit that can be used specifically for travel in the stratosphere because there is less friction there....less friction means faster travel...which could be very useful in our future!

No one really knew what would happen to a person that gets to "supersonic" speed.  Aircraft that had been tested showed signs of breaking up because of the shock waves bombarding the plane.  Some planes completely broke up into tiny pieces!  Very high up in the atmosphere the shock waves are less severe because air is not very dense, the air gases are spread far apart.  Felix was the first person to demonstrate that he could stay "supersonic" for 30 seconds reaching Mach 1.25!  And he lived to tell the tale!

In history class when you read about all the explorers and pioneers of certain times, remember, explorers and pioneers are still rockin' the world to this very day!