You might recall Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner's 2012 jump from a 24-mile-high balloon capsule, a height of 127,852 feet. He broke not only an altitude record, formerly set by a U.S. Air Force pilot, Col. Joe Kittinger, in 1960, but also a record for speed of descent, breaking the sound barrier on his plummet to the New Mexico desert.
As NPR's Dana Farrington wrote of the feat on Oct. 14, 2012, Baumgartner's accomplishment was "the highest jump, the longest distance free fall and the fastest velocity" (Mach 1.24).
GoPro, the digital camera manufacturer and a co-sponsor of the jump, mounted seven of its HERO2 cameras on "Fearless Felix" and managed to get some breathtaking video of the feat. The first few seconds can be seen in a Super Bowl advertisement that airs Sunday night, but you can see the complete, breathtaking footage above.
It begins with Baumgartner taking directions from Kittinger in mission control. Kittinger directs him to disconnect his oxygen hose and step to the exterior ledge of the capsule.
After the brief conversation, Baumgartner stands at the precipice and says: "I wish you could see what I could see.
"Sometimes you have to be really high up to understand how small you are. I'm coming home now," he says.
Baumgartner salutes and steps off the ledge. The next few minutes of video are nothing short of awe inspiring.
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