資料來源：http://chinapost.com.tw/guidepost/topics/default.asp?id=2948&next=1&sub=1
On Oct. 14, a man stepped out into a place where no human being had ever stood before. Over 39 kilometers above the surface of Earth, at the very edge of space, skydiver and daredevil Felix Baumgartner exited a capsule beneath an enormous 55-story-tall helium-filled balloon.
Alone but with millions of people supporting him, afraid but with so much courage, he gazed at Earth below and uttered a short salute: "Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you are. I'm going home now." And then he leaped.
It had taken Baumgartner two and a half hours to reach the altitude that he jumped from. It would take him only about 10 minutes to return. After 42 seconds of descent, Baumgartner reached his maximum velocity — a speed of 1,342 kilometers per hour. After free-falling for 4 minutes and 20 seconds, he deployed his parachute and drifted back to Earth.
During his skydive from the stratosphere, he became the first human to travel faster than the speed of sound without the aid of a vehicle. He also set a record for the highest manned balloon flight. The event was also record-breaking for social media.
The mission had more than two dozen cameras, including a helmet cam, to catch the action on the way up and during the jump itself. It was webcast live on the event's website and on YouTube. More than 8 million computers and other digital devices were tuned in to the live stream on YouTube alone, making the jump the most-watched live event ever on the website.
There were a couple of dicey moments. Not long after he leaped into the stratosphere, Baumgartner began spinning wildly as he descended at high speeds. Officials had feared a so-called "flat spin" — a horizontal spin that can lead to a loss of consciousness. But Baumgartner righted himself.
Before the feat, there had been concerns about how a human body might respond to supersonic speeds without the benefit of an aircraft. But at a post-event news conference, Baumgartner said he didn't know when he sped through the sound barrier. "I didn't feel it at all," he noted.
Upon landing, he fell to his knees and raised his fists before being enveloped by personnel involved in the mission. The jump was an endeavor, five years in the making, to break a free-fall world record of 31.3 kilometers set by U.S. Air Force test pilot Joe Kittinger in 1960. Kittinger, now 84, was part of the new mission and relayed messages between the control room and Baumgartner. "A better champion cannot be found than Felix Baumgartner," Kittinger said afterward.
There was one record Baumgartner didn't break. His free fall was 4 minutes, 20 seconds, but Kittinger's lasted for 4 minutes, 36 seconds. However, Baumgartner's jump was about much more than simply records.
That is why Baumgartner is our person of the year. Not because of his achievements, though they were breathtaking, nor because of his courage, though it was inspiring, but because of the things he reminded us of: that our achievements are limited only by our imaginations and that no matter how alone we feel or how far away we are, in the end we are one race and one people leaping together into the great and endless unknowns.
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