Remember when Felix Baumgartner broke the world record for highest freefall parachute jump back in 2012? It looks like there’s an even bigger daredevil than Felix, because someone has beaten his record!

An extreme computer scientist called Alan Eustace has parachuted from a balloon near the top of the stratosphere (the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere), and fell faster than the speed of sound! Wow!

Alan works at Google and was lifted from an abandoned airport runway in New Mexico by a giant helium balloon. He dangled under the balloon in a specially designed spacesuit, and when the time was right he cut himself loose with a small explosive device. Epic!

The previous record set by Felix was from a height of 38 969 metres on October 14, 2012. Alan set the new record by falling from 41 420 metres on October 24, 2014.

Photos courtesy of Paragon Space Development Corporation, J. Martin Harris Travel and Leisure Photography and David Jourdan Nauticos