Human Performance And The Sound Barrier

There is only one word I can think of that might describe it: Epic.

And that doesn’t do justice to it whatsoever.

The moment in question: Felix Baumgartner’s breaking of the sound barrier in a freefall descent on October 14, 2012.

I spent the vast majority of the live broadcast shaking my head in disbelief. First it was the sheer altitude to which he had ascended – 128,100 feet. Then there was the checklist of items. Then the capsule door was opened. Item 29: release seat belt. Then he stood on the platform – and fell forward – a freefall of 119,846 feet.

Really? Really? Wow. Beyond wow. This was reality TV at its finest, a product of the digital era. Over 8 million people viewed this feat live on YouTube. This may have been our generation’s version of a moon landing, only in reverse.

Felix Baumgartner broke the barriers of human performance – and better yet, pushed the envelope of our thinking in terms of what we believe is possible.

Baumgartner’s freefall lasted for 4:20. During this time, he achieved a maximum velocity of 833.9 mph – Mach 1.24. The beauty and historical symmetry of the moment was that it was exactly 65 years to the day (October 14, 1947) that Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1.

Go back to 1947 for a moment. Nobody knew what would happen when a man in a jet broke the speed of sound. Many thought it couldn’t be done. But Chuck Yeager showed us otherwise.

Fast forward to 2012. Nobody knew what would happen when a man in freefall broke the speed of sound. Many thought it couldn’t be done. But Felix Baumgartner showed us otherwise.

There were moments during his descent when Baumgartner went into an uncontrolled spin. He was able to recover from this in order to successfully complete his mission.

Just when you thought the historical symmetry was amazing, Yeager did it again. At age 89, on the 65th anniversary of his flight, he re-enacted it. Though he flew in the back seat of the F-15 Eagle, he did pilot it at take-off and landing. Yeager is no longer the first to break the sound barrier – he must surely be the oldest as well.

These men both pushed the envelope of human performance. They also pushed the envelope of our thinking. Perhaps even more importantly, they forever altered our beliefs about what is humanly possible.

Throughout history, we have watched the pursuit of higher levels of human performance. We stand in awe of athletes like Jim Hines breaking the 10 second barrier in the 100 meters, or Roger Bannister breaking the 4 minute barrier for the mile. But we also stand in awe of the human performances of people like Yeager and Baumgartner, elite athletes that have pushed the limits in their own realms.

Human performance is a physical task. But it is so much more than that. It is an extreme mental challenge. It is pushing the limits of thought and of commonly-held societal beliefs. Those aspects might in fact be tougher than the physical side of the equation.

Our only limiter is ourselves. And once again, Baumgartner and Yeager reminded us that the the limits are boundless.

Human performance - and challenges to the human spirit – will be the theme throughout the week.

Photo credits: Kansir