“The man rode up, higher and higher into the sky in the balloon, watching the world grow smaller below him as the sky began to darken, as he passed through clouds – higher than planes, higher than the tallest mountain in the world. Around the world, people waited, hardly daring to breathe, their eyes glued to the television screens. Then, with the knowledge that what happened next would change everything, the man leaned out of the balloon and jumped, from the edge of space”.
Sounds like something out of a kids book, doesn’t it? Something you read to your four year old before they drift off to sleep and dream of being an astronaut and doing the same as this seemingly super-human man. Of course, as he gets older, that child will realize that it’s impossible – you can’t fall from the edge of space, you’d die! And going up there in a balloon? As if anything but a rocket would get you there alive! It’s impossible!
Maybe for others – but not for Felix Baumgartner. Felix is the integral part of Red Bull’s “Stratos” project – a project which, if successful, will break a number of world records and also provide some vital information for the designers of full-pressure suits – known to most as spacesuits. The world’s media hasn’t held back on regaling us with the many grisly ways in which this project could end badly for Baumgartener – with very little consideration for his family and girlfriend, who must no doubt be going through hell right now. If successful, Baumgartner will be the first ever parachutist to break the sound barrier.
There’s a couple of reasons why I think this man is inspirational and, as such, is why I’ve written this (short) post. The first is that he’s risking his life to help others in the future – to help save astronauts in the event of a disaster, and to make space travel and discovery of worlds other than our own easier. The second reason is that he’s an inspiration to all those little kids who lie in bed at night and dream of new planets, of soaring through the sky in a rocket, of the eyes of the world being on them as they blast off and land. When they wake up, adamant that they want that in real life, they won’t say “It’s impossible” – they’ll say “Felix Baumgartner did it, so why can’t I?”. And with that inspiration – and the advances this project could give us in that spacesuit design – Felix might be the reason that a generation of kids achieve their dreams.
the life of a moomin 