Einstein’s “Happy Idea” in Practice

Jul 26th, 2007 by Stefan

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Albert Einstein predicted that a man in the emptiness of space would not be able to detect whether he was falling under gravity. Einstein called this “a happy idea”.

Five years after Einstein’s death, a very brave man was about to find out for himself whether or not Einstein’s “happy idea” made any sense.

In august 16, 1960, Joe Kittinger lifted off from Earth in a helium balloon called Excelsior III. Three hours later, he reached a height of 102,800 feet and became the first man in space.

Without having any other option, he then did something very brave: he jumped…

High above the clouds, and armed with a camera, Joe had no sense of falling, just like Einstein predicted… But he was actually accelerating to 990 kilometers per hour … and … became the first person to reach the speed of sound without an aircraft.

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