Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A Google VP turns a napkin sketch into a record. Follow Alan Eustace's 135,000-foot stratosphere jump and the radical Stratix suit that made a safe space dive possible.
Why risk the thin blue edge? Because the stratosphere holds clues to weather and climate, yet remains largely unexplored. This film follows 57-year-old computer scientist Alan Eustace, then Google’s senior VP of Knowledge, as he decides not just to fund but to pilot a new, scuba-like approach to high altitude exploration: no capsule, just a custom pressure suit and a giant balloon.
With Paragon Space Development, ILC Dover, United Parachute Technologies and a small, tight-knit crew, the team builds the first suit designed for a stable supersonic descent, adds a drogue, and creates the SABRE to keep lines clear on release. Early tests are raw: thermal chamber runs at sub-zero temperatures, a desert plane jump in Coolidge where an antenna shears off the door, LEDs freeze, GPS dies, Alan spins, a safety diver deploys his chute, and a military helicopter finds him miles off target. They rework steering toggles, move the drogue attachment higher, add chest rollers for a kneeling exit, and drill checklists.
The payoff comes in stages: a 57,000-foot balloon test and rough-but-safe landings. Then Roswell. A launch day fire from the balloon’s destruct fuse scrubs the attempt, forcing a reset. After days on weather watch, the window opens. Alan pre-breathes pure oxygen, suits up, and rides a stadium-sized balloon into the black. Mission control calls out 135,000 feet as he floats over New Mexico, then counts down. Release. The drogue tames the fall, the main canopy opens, and chase teams guide a hard but clean landing.
Beyond records for altitude and freefall distance, Stratix proves a simpler, scalable way to reach near space. The suit heads to the Smithsonian, and the stabilization system points to safer high-altitude flight for research, tourism, and defense.
#AlanEustace #Stratosphere #SpaceDive #HighAltitude #Engineering #Parachute #Aerospace
A Google VP turns a napkin sketch into a record. Follow Alan Eustace's 135,000-foot stratosphere jump and the radical Stratix suit that made a safe space dive possible.
Why risk the thin blue edge? Because the stratosphere holds clues to weather and climate, yet remains largely unexplored. This film follows 57-year-old computer scientist Alan Eustace, then Google’s senior VP of Knowledge, as he decides not just to fund but to pilot a new, scuba-like approach to high altitude exploration: no capsule, just a custom pressure suit and a giant balloon.
With Paragon Space Development, ILC Dover, United Parachute Technologies and a small, tight-knit crew, the team builds the first suit designed for a stable supersonic descent, adds a drogue, and creates the SABRE to keep lines clear on release. Early tests are raw: thermal chamber runs at sub-zero temperatures, a desert plane jump in Coolidge where an antenna shears off the door, LEDs freeze, GPS dies, Alan spins, a safety diver deploys his chute, and a military helicopter finds him miles off target. They rework steering toggles, move the drogue attachment higher, add chest rollers for a kneeling exit, and drill checklists.
The payoff comes in stages: a 57,000-foot balloon test and rough-but-safe landings. Then Roswell. A launch day fire from the balloon’s destruct fuse scrubs the attempt, forcing a reset. After days on weather watch, the window opens. Alan pre-breathes pure oxygen, suits up, and rides a stadium-sized balloon into the black. Mission control calls out 135,000 feet as he floats over New Mexico, then counts down. Release. The drogue tames the fall, the main canopy opens, and chase teams guide a hard but clean landing.
Beyond records for altitude and freefall distance, Stratix proves a simpler, scalable way to reach near space. The suit heads to the Smithsonian, and the stabilization system points to safer high-altitude flight for research, tourism, and defense.
#AlanEustace #Stratosphere #SpaceDive #HighAltitude #Engineering #Parachute #Aerospace
