Falling back to earth, alone describes an unbelievable skydive:
In 1960, U.S. Air Force pilot Joe Kittinger flew 30km straight up into the sky using a pressurized, high-altitude balloon. This very nearly made him the first man in space.He then jumped.
Kittinger free-fell for over twenty miles — at which point he was moving so fast he broke the sound barrier.
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Luckily, there’s a film.