“I want to come back alive.” That thought runs through Felix Baumgartner’s head over and over. He has reason to worry. The skydiver is floating 39 km above


Earth. He rode up there in a giant balloon. Now, there’s only one way down. He has to jump.


Then he’ll plummet toward the ground. He’ll fall farther and faster than anyone has ever fallen before. Can he survive long enough to open his parachute? There’s only one way to fi nd out.


Jumping for Science On the ground hours earlier, Baumgartner had prepared for the jump. He’d dreamed of it for seven years. If successful, he’d break records. He’d also provide important scientific data. His team of scientists had questions only


his jump could answer. T ey wondered how a human body would react to such a big fall. T ey wanted to see how well the tools created to protect him worked. T ey wanted to find out how far and fast he could fall and survive. T is data could save lives one day. It could


help future space travelers if they run into trouble high above Earth. T at day is sometime in the future. For now,


Baumgartner is focused on surviving the next few hours. He squeezes into a special suit. It’s a lot like a spacesuit. He hates this suit. Skydiving usually feels


like freedom to him. T is suit doesn’t. It’s heavy. It smells like stinky rubber. It’s so stiff , he can barely move. Wearing it, he can’t feel the air on his skin.


He can only hear his breathing. It echoes loudly inside his helmet. It makes him feel trapped. Yet he knows he must wear the suit. No one can survive where he’s going without one.


12 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER


Baumgartner will ride halfway to space in this capsule.


Danger in the Air Baumgartner is headed higher than the clouds. He’s going nearly halfway to space. T is part of Earth’s atmosphere is called the stratosphere. T e stratosphere is a dangerous place for a


human. T ere’s less air pressure high above Earth. Air pressure is the force of air molecules pushing against a surface. On the ground, billions of air molecules press against us all the time. It doesn’t feel like much, though. It’s diff erent in the stratosphere. T ere, lack


of air pressure does strange things to a body. It makes saliva, tears, and other liquids to turn into gas and expand. A person’s body starts to swell. It can puff up to twice its normal size.


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