B.A.S.E. 502

Before reading B.A.S.E. 502

Have you ever done something you were afraid of doing? What was it?

Felix Baumgartner became world famous when he jumped from a helium balloon in the stratosphere. What makes a person do something like that? Ever since he was a boy Felix was a daredevil. He climbed trees because he loved the bird’s-eye view. His biggest dream was to fly in the sky. As soon as he turned sixteen, Felix went to the local skydiving club and learned to skydive. From that moment, he was addicted. Felix likes all kinds of risky sport, and his hobbies are climbing, boxing, motocross, helicopters and rally driving. He is a helicopter pilot, a skydiver and a base jumper. His nicknames are “B.A.S.E. 502” and “Fearless Felix”. Felix spent five years training before he jumped from the stratosphere on 14 October 2012. He skydived about 39 000 metres at a speed of 1342 kilometres per hour. His family and the whole world were watching as he was pulled up to the stratosphere in a small space capsule. He landed safely on the ground nine minutes later. Alan Eustace broke Felix’s record for highest free-fall parachute jump in 2014, but still Felix’s famous jump from the stratosphere has a lot of records. Maybe you can find out what they are? stratosphere stratosfære daredevil våghals bird’s-eye view fugleperspektiv sky himmel skydiving fallskjermhopping addicted avhengig base jumper basehopper nicknames kallenavn among blant pulled up trukket opp space capsule romkapsel safely trygt free-fall fritt fall parachute fallskjerm dive stup Vurderingseksemplar

Some of Felix’s records are:

• The highest jump from a building (the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur). • A jump from the highest building in Scandinavia (Turning Torso, Malmö, Sweden). • The lowest dive (from the Christ Statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). • A jump from the highest bridge in the world (Millau Bridge, France).

Felix prepares to jump from space.

What dog can jump higher than a building? Any dog, because buildings can’t jump!Vurderingseksemplar BASE is an acronym, which describes four places that parachute jumpers jump from: Building Antenna Span (a bridge) Earth (a cliff or mountain)

After reading

a What was Felix’s biggest dream as a child? b Which of his hobbies would you have liked to try and why? c What is Felix’s most dramatic record? d How do you think his family felt when they watched him jump?

I think ... because ...