Well, today the record was broken for the highest manned balloon flight and a man broke the speed of sound on his free fall. Felix Bangard did what Kichner did back in 1960: he took a balloon up to over 100,000 feet and jumped. Kichner jumped from 102,000 or so feet back in 1960 to test a parachute system to save pilots who had to eject from high altitude fling planes. Today Bangard broke Kichner's record and jumped from 128,000 feet (24 miles up) and broke the speed of sound. He didn't quite beat the longest free fall time but dang did he fall fast. I thought it was really cool to see this happen today considering last night I was telling my dad about the harness that Kichner wore on his record setting jump that now is on display at the Air Force Museum.
That Mysteries at the Museum show is awesome; that's where I learned about the harness and the role it served. The show is actually on the Travel Channel not Discovery. I bet that part of the museum will be highlighted for a little while.
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