BBC Focus

PHOTOS: SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, ISTOCK, GETTY ILLUSTRATION: CHRIS PHILPOT

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HOW IT WORKS

Poor dandelion seeds.

They never get out of

their parent’s shadow

The jump

Aikins leapt out of

the plane at a height

of 7,620m (25,000ft)

without wearing a

parachute or

wingsuit.

The fall

Aikins reached

speeds of 193km/h

(120mph) during the

two-minute fall.

The guidance system

A GPS system on his

helmet relayed his

position to a guidance

system on the ground,

which was linked up

to the net. The net

featured a system of

lights that shone red

when he was

off-target, and white

when he was

correctly oriented.

The landing

A second before

impact, Aikins flipped

onto his back. He

landed in a polyeth-

ylene net measuring

30 x 30m (100 x 100ft)

that was suspended

above the ground by

four cranes.

Back in July, 42-year-old US skydiver Luke Aikins set a new record

for the highest skydive without a parachute. But how did he do it?

SKYDIVING WITHOUT

A PARACHUTE