Space
Dive
On
October 14, 2012, Felix Baumgartner jumped out of a stratospheric balloon 39,
045 meters above Earth. After 9:09
minutes, his feet hit the ground, safe and sound, after a breathtaking freefall
of 4:22 minutes. Plummeting up to an
estimated speed of 1,342.8 km/h, Felix
became the first person to break the sound barrier while in freefall.
I
find Mr. Baumgartner's space dive quite inspiring. Not inspiring in the sense that I am
compelled to jump from the stratosphere, though; definitely not. But it is
emboldening in the area of determination.
Obviously, this space dive was something Mr. Baumgartner had to train
and prepare for, both mentally and physically.
In order to insure his survival, (As this jump was truly a matter of
life or death) he would have had to have such persistence, and patience. There was undoubtedly no room for error in
his feat. Therefore, his inner strength alone
I feel is something to be admired.
As
we were watching the particular YouTube clip on the dive, I could not help
imagining what it would have been like to be in Mr. Baumgartner's position. I am sure at the time of, stress levels in
the balloon as well as on the ground were running high. With good reason, in my opinion. I wonder if he (Mr. Baumgartner) had any
doubts just before stepping off into the seemingly almost nothingness? For sure I would have - how could you, as a
human being, not help contemplating that these moments might be the last you
will ever live? Anyways, past those
depressing, though imposing, thoughts, I would have bet that nothing would be
comparable to the actual freefall.
Feeling the wind pummeling your body in all different directions,
flipping, twisting; in the very least you could say it would be a "unforgettable"
experience. One that I am sure many of
us, including myself, would rather leave to the experts!
I'm with you Nicole... Only being te first, I don't know if I'd have faith in so-called experts!
ReplyDeleteI love the descriptive words you used in your paragraphs (pummeling, emboldening etc.). It really helped the paragraph flow and gave it an "air of destinction." I am in total agreement that it would be an "unforgettable" experiance. Even watching the video you got a sense of the tension and then triumph when Felix reached the ground safely.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Nicole, Baumgartner's determination to go through with the dive is admirable. The fact that Baumgartner went through with it even though it was visible that he was nervous or perhaps even scared, is impressive on it's own. Falling from such a height will indeed be an unforgettable experience. Good job on constructing your paragraphs, they flow together really well!
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