Google executive Alan Eustace has taken a dive, one that set a record for the world's highest parachute jump, breaking the former record set by Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner.
Eustace, 57, a senior vice president at the Internet search company, was lifted beneath a giant helium balloon to an altitude of 135,890 feet over New Mexico.
At that altitude, a tiny explosive device cut him loose from the balloon, beginning his free-fall plummet to Earth during which he hit speeds of 822 mph, breaking the sound barrier.
Protected from the near-vacuum at almost 25 miles over the Earth by a specially designed space suit, Eustace fell toward the ground for 4 minutes and 27 seconds before deploying his parachute.
His parachute brought him to a soft ground landing just 15 minutes after he detached from the balloon at a spot 70 miles from his launch site.
His jump beat Baumgartner's record jump of 128,100 feet by almost a mile and a half.
His ascent to the jump altitude from the lift-off point in Roswell, New Mexico, on Oct. 24 took a little over two hours. 24.
Unlike Baumgartner's jump two years ago, which was sponsored by Red Bull, Eustace's project was conducted largely in secret, aided by a small group of engineers and specialists designing his suit and the other equipment used in the effort.
A company called Paragon Space Development Corp., which designs and manufactures life-support devices and equipment, coordinated the logistical and technical research.
The jump had been three years in the planning. Eustace said he declined help offered by Google, where he is vice president of search, because he didn't want his project to become a public relations event.
James Hayhurst of the United States Parachute Association, which verified the record, characterized the jump as "legitimate science."
Paragon President Grant Anderson said the technology developed in the course of the project could some day help people journey to and safely return from the upper atmosphere.
"So much of what we did was new, from the tech that helped keep the suit cool, to the communications we used to stay in contact, to the balloon system for releasing him," Anderson said.
Eustace, an accomplished pilot and parachutist, has a reputation in Silicon Valley as a thrill-seeker, although he described himself as first and foremost an engineer.
Still, he was understandably elated by his record-breaking adventure.
"It was amazing," he said of his jump. "It was a wild, wild ride. I hugged on to the equipment module and tucked my legs and I held my heading."
