Imagine stepping out of a room and looking down 128,000 feet. Imagine looking up and seeing the blackness of the space, and the blueness of the earth's sky. Imagine seeing the roundness of the earth. Then imagine, stepping off and plunging downwards. Imagine what it feels like when you look down from a tall building. And then imagine what it must feel like looking down on earth from the edge of space. And then taking that leap.
You need balls made of steel. Literally. Nothing else will do.
Felix Baumgartner jumped off from the edge of space on 14 October 2012. He hurled towards the earth faster than a bullet. Faster than the speed of sound. But that's not what excites me. The thing of wonderment is standing on the edge of space and then taking the plunge. From where does one produce such courage? What Felix Baumgartner did, what any daredevil stuntman has ever done, is prove how courage can be so relative for all of us. While we mourn the loss of Malala Yousafzai's wasted youth, people like her and Felix Baumgartner continue to prove that courage is not a thing to be afraid of. How else does one stand on the edge of space and then decides to jump? I am amazed at how easy it is to manipulate the human mind. How fickle it is. It just needs the push. And then it does the pushing. On the moon Neil Armstrong said "this is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".
In Felix Baumgartner's case, the latter is literally true.
