Did you all hear about Luke Aikins? The free fall with parachute or skydiving at some point stops anyway. The ideal of course is to stop with the opening of the parachute. But what happens when there is no parachute?
Last Saturday Mr. Luke Aikins fell from 25.000 feet with one on him camera, ένα GPS, μια συσκευή επικοινωνίας, και μια μάσκα oxygeny, which he handed over to a paratrooper friend at about 18.000 feet. His equipment completely lacked a parachute or even a wingsuit. However, he managed to land safely a few minutes later.
The fall of course was amazing. It was broadcast on television ("live", one hour late).
However, Luke Aikins's fall was not accidental. He was highly skilled and needed two years of preparation and training before he dared.
"Like any normal, healthy person, I said, 'Thank you, but no. "I have a wife and a son, and I have a life to live," he told People magazine when he was offered the job.
"Then for two weeks I woke up in the middle of the night thinking, 'I was told I had to do it, how could it be done?'
Really how did he do it? Luke Aikins used a GPS and four lights on the net that pushed him to the landing. The net was specifically designed to slow down its fall.
According to National Geographic:
"The net itself is made of Spectra, a high-density polyethylene cord that is twice as strong as steel, but also completely inelastic. As soon as Aikins fell "vertically, four cylinders of compressed air, connected to the net by ropes and pulleys, began to slow him down in the same way we catch an egg falling into our hands."
Of course other precautions were taken into account for one safe fall. For oxygen levels, an oxygen mask that Aikins used for the first part of the fall.
Aikins, 42, is also a professional skydiver, which means he knows how to fall. According to Popular Mechanics, the way skydivers use their arms, legs, and chest is another way to slow their descent bycase friction. It also helps them maneuver when falling, and Aikins stopped accelerating after a certain point.
