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The 57-year-old man jumped from a height of 41,000 metres and reached supersonic speeds.

Record-breaking supersonic skydive


Saturday, October 25, 2014, 11:55 AM -

You may know them from their famous doodles or their ubiquitous search engine, but Google is about to get a new claim to fame.

Google executive Alan Eustace broke a world record by skydiving from near the top of the stratosphere—beating out Australian's Felix Baumgartner.

The 57-year-old "jumped" from a height of 41,000 metres as part of a project called StratEx with the collaboration of Paragon Space Development Corporation.

The dive took place over the Roswell, New Mexico. Eustace's free-fall had a duration of about five minutes and briefly reached supersonic speeds.

Eustace told the New York Times "It was amazing. It was beautiful. YOu could see the darkness of space and you could see the layers of the atmosphere."


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According to Paragon, this mission offers valuable information about the stratosphere. Furthermore it also sheds light on the possibility of rescue and evacuation from a damaged spacecraft.

Interested in jumping from space? Your dreams might not be too far away. The private company World View Experience have obtained the rights to perform these jumps in the future for purposes of tourism and research. The price tag attached? A steep $75,000 will allow you to duplicate the experience in the safety of your own luxurious pod—complete with bar, toilet and wi-fi.

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