First Video From Space Jump Daredevil’s Body Camera


Austrian TV channel Servus got its hands on the first footage from brave Felix Baumgartner’s suit camera as he descended to Earth. It starts right after the jump and shows the moment in which Felix breaks the speed of sound and spins out of control.

Truly terrifying stuff. And awesome too.

Talking at the press conference after the record-shattering supersonic space jump, Felix said he thought he was going to lose consciousness at one point because of the violent spinning:

There was a time I really thought I was in trouble. I had to decide to fight all the way down and I finally got stable. [This is when he started to spin, apparently out of control]

That spin became so violent it was hard to know how to get out of it. I was able to get it under control and break the speed of sound.

Fortunately, he managed to control the spin — somehow! — and look down to Earth, keeping a steady descent course. The video shows that moment, too.

Felix is now the first man on the planet to break the speed of sound with no mechanical propulsion — just him and Earth’s gravity. He also broke the record for the highest manned flight in a balloon, the highest free fall jump and the fastest descent.

We took the German TV commentary off and added the actual audio from the event, synchronised with the video. The original video was removed from YouTube shortly after it was posted.

You can watch a summary of the jump and Felix’s records here. [Thanks RutherfordTheBrave!]