'Edge of Space' Skydiver Felix Baumgartner Dies in Paragliding Accident (go.com)
(Saturday July 19, 2025 @11:34AM (EditorDavid)
from the sad-news dept.)
- Reference: 0178415118
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/19/0336250/edge-of-space-skydiver-felix-baumgartner-dies-in-paragliding-accident
- Source link: https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/skydiver-felix-baumgartner-dies-56/story?id=123848075
Felix Baumgartner has died. He was 56.
In 2012 Slashdot [1]extensively [2]covered [3]the [4]skydiver's " [5]leap from the edge of space ." ABC News remembers it as a Red Bull-financed stunt that involved "diving 24 miles from the edge of space, in a plummet that [6]reached a speed of more than 500 mph ."
> Baumgartner recalled the legendary jump in the documentary, "Space Jump," and said, "I was the first human being outside of an aircraft breaking the speed of sound and the history books. Nobody remembers the second one...."
>
> Baumgartner, also known as "Fearless Felix," accomplished many records in his career, including setting the world record for highest parachute jump atop the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, flying across the English Channel in a wingsuit in 2003, and base jumping from the 85-foot arm of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil in 2007.
"Baumgartner's altitude record stood for two years," [7]remembers the Los Angeles Times , "until Google executive Alan Eustace set new marks for the highest free-fall jump and greatest free-fall distance."
They report that Baumgartner died Thursday "while engaged in a far less intense activity, crashing into the side of a hotel swimming pool while paragliding in Porto Sant Elpidio, a town on central Italy's eastern coast." More details [8]from the Associated Press :
> "It is a destiny that is very hard to comprehend for a man who has broke all kinds of records, who has been an icon of flight, and who traveled through space," Mayor Massimiliano Ciarpella told The Associated Press.Ciarpella said that Baumgartner had been in the area on vacation, and that investigators believed he may have fallen ill during the fatal flight... Baumgartner, a former Austrian military parachutist, made thousands of jumps from planes, bridges, skyscrapers and famed landmarks...
[9]ABC News remembers that in 2022 Baumgartner [10]wrote in Newsweek that "Since I was a little kid, I've always looked up to people who left a footprint on this planet... now I think I have left a footprint...
"I believe big dreamers always win."
[1] https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/10/08/1818213/supersonic-skydive-attempt-delayed-24-hours
[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/10/07/1628237/felix-baumgartner-prepares-for-supersonic-skydive-attempt-in-new-mexico
[3] https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/10/14/216230/the-tech-behind-felix-baumgartners-stratospheric-skydive
[4] https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/10/14/1616217/felix-baumgartners-supersonic-skydive-attempt
[5] https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/09/25/2340244/austrian-skydiver-prepared-to-leap-from-edge-of-space
[6] https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/skydiver-felix-baumgartner-dies-56/story?id=123848075
[7] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/daredevil-legend-fearless-felix-baumgartner-dies-in-paragliding-accident-at-56/ar-AA1IRmR0
[8] https://apnews.com/article/felix-baumgartner-death-paragliding-skydiver-40aee076396adceffdd322d4105af0e4
[9] https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/skydiver-felix-baumgartner-dies-56/story?id=123848075
[10] https://www.newsweek.com/i-skydived-earth-atmosphere-red-bull-stratos-felix-baumgartner-1752086
In 2012 Slashdot [1]extensively [2]covered [3]the [4]skydiver's " [5]leap from the edge of space ." ABC News remembers it as a Red Bull-financed stunt that involved "diving 24 miles from the edge of space, in a plummet that [6]reached a speed of more than 500 mph ."
> Baumgartner recalled the legendary jump in the documentary, "Space Jump," and said, "I was the first human being outside of an aircraft breaking the speed of sound and the history books. Nobody remembers the second one...."
>
> Baumgartner, also known as "Fearless Felix," accomplished many records in his career, including setting the world record for highest parachute jump atop the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, flying across the English Channel in a wingsuit in 2003, and base jumping from the 85-foot arm of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil in 2007.
"Baumgartner's altitude record stood for two years," [7]remembers the Los Angeles Times , "until Google executive Alan Eustace set new marks for the highest free-fall jump and greatest free-fall distance."
They report that Baumgartner died Thursday "while engaged in a far less intense activity, crashing into the side of a hotel swimming pool while paragliding in Porto Sant Elpidio, a town on central Italy's eastern coast." More details [8]from the Associated Press :
> "It is a destiny that is very hard to comprehend for a man who has broke all kinds of records, who has been an icon of flight, and who traveled through space," Mayor Massimiliano Ciarpella told The Associated Press.Ciarpella said that Baumgartner had been in the area on vacation, and that investigators believed he may have fallen ill during the fatal flight... Baumgartner, a former Austrian military parachutist, made thousands of jumps from planes, bridges, skyscrapers and famed landmarks...
[9]ABC News remembers that in 2022 Baumgartner [10]wrote in Newsweek that "Since I was a little kid, I've always looked up to people who left a footprint on this planet... now I think I have left a footprint...
"I believe big dreamers always win."
[1] https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/10/08/1818213/supersonic-skydive-attempt-delayed-24-hours
[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/10/07/1628237/felix-baumgartner-prepares-for-supersonic-skydive-attempt-in-new-mexico
[3] https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/10/14/216230/the-tech-behind-felix-baumgartners-stratospheric-skydive
[4] https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/10/14/1616217/felix-baumgartners-supersonic-skydive-attempt
[5] https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/09/25/2340244/austrian-skydiver-prepared-to-leap-from-edge-of-space
[6] https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/skydiver-felix-baumgartner-dies-56/story?id=123848075
[7] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/daredevil-legend-fearless-felix-baumgartner-dies-in-paragliding-accident-at-56/ar-AA1IRmR0
[8] https://apnews.com/article/felix-baumgartner-death-paragliding-skydiver-40aee076396adceffdd322d4105af0e4
[9] https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/skydiver-felix-baumgartner-dies-56/story?id=123848075
[10] https://www.newsweek.com/i-skydived-earth-atmosphere-red-bull-stratos-felix-baumgartner-1752086
Re: (Score:2)
by Sique ( 173459 )
He did not die when jumping from the stratosphere.
Why I always stuck to hang gliding. (Score:2)
by AlanObject ( 3603453 )
Paragliders are much easier to learn to fly and carry between sites. That's why they are more popular than hang gliders.
The issue is that they present risks that other flying wings do not. The wing collapses through turbulence or mismanagement. Or a botched stunt.
They very fact that paragliders are "easy" makes them more dangerous. There is more opportunity for an inexperienced pilot to get into situations where they don't even understand the risk they are taking. One death I observed was simply d
We need more people like him (Score:4, Interesting)
Without these people who dare to push the boundary, we'd hardly advance as a species. We need people who want to do things bigger.
Re: (Score:3)
Not sure what his jump did to help us "advance as a species"
I remember watching it live - it seemed like he wasn't going to jump - but he did and spun out of control for a while - and yea he landed.
Doing something silly to advertise an energy drink and almost die... did not help us "advance as a species" in my humble opinion
That being said - my condolences to any family or friend that might see this.
Re: We need more people like him (Score:2)
It's the planning, and designing the equipment to let the jump happen.
Without the jump, all that wouldn't have happened (for a while at least).
Him stepping up, and actually doing it, advanced knowledge and engineering, proving that it could be done. Not a huge advance, but definitely a tiptoe in a new direction.
Re: (Score:2)
A few things. But I'll mention because it's inspiration by resurrecting in us the human spirit of adventure We need that, it is what will differentiate us from robots. As robots achieve AGI over the coming years, we'll need to know who we are as a species. That we're a feeling species, in addition to thinking. A robot too can jump like that from the stratosphere .. but only if necessary, and as instructed. A human has to overcome fear to do it (alongside other things like setbacks, planning, procrastination
Re: (Score:2)
He advanced us as a species by eliminating himself from the gene pool.
Re: We need more people like him (Score:1)
What we need are people who take calculated risks. Not just do risky things for the lulz. There is overlap of course, but there is a very substantive difference between taking a joyride and piloting the moon lander.