Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. rode up in an open gondola, high altitude balloon to 102,800 feet, then jumped out. With a parachute, of course, but still…

This takes guts. You’re above the vast majority of the atmosphere – more than 19 miles/31km up – so you need a pressure suit. And because you’re so high up, the temperatures drop, in this case to 94 degrees below zero (-111C). In the thin atmosphere Kittinger reached a speed of up to 714 mph, faster than any human being has gone without any sort of vehicle.

You can read more about Col. Kittinger’s record-setting jump at the New Mexico Museum of Space History.

Oh, and by the way, he did that in 1960.

Amazing.