Eight-year-old becomes youngest to experience zero gravity with impressive mid-air tricks
While most childhood dreams are eventually left behind, young Jack turned his into a record-breaking reality.
At the age of eight years 33 days, Jack Martin Pressman (USA) became the youngest person to fly in zero gravity.
He achieved this feat on a US commercial flight operated by Zero G, a company that offers zero gravity flights for astronaut training, scientific research and public enjoyment.
Jack has been fascinated by space for as long as he can remember.
His mum, Jessica Pressman, recalls: “He used to love Buzz Lightyear when he was a lot younger and actually, to foster that love and curiosity of space, we built him his own secret space room.
“It had its own private entrance, nobody else knew about it, and when you walked in the room was a beautiful moonlight blue, and there were hundreds and hundreds of glow-in-the-dark stars everywhere, and constellations and planets, and he had his own little spaceship.
“He and I would crawl into that spaceship and we would cuddle up and I would read him stories about space.
“I would like to think that that fostered his love for space.”
Jack’s decision to pursue the record was sparked by a conversation with his dad, Jason Pressman, about life’s regrets and the importance of seizing opportunities.
Jason explains: “He asked me one time if I had any regrets, and I told him that I regretted that I was never able to fly on the Concorde.
“He had heard about Zero G from me and he looked at me and he said ‘Baba, if I don’t get to fly on that Zero G plane, I think I’m going to always regret it’.
“And I said, ‘Well, you’re only seven so that’s a little peculiar, but I respect it’, and so we booked it, and we went as soon as he turned eight years old.”
Before the event, the Pressman family underwent proper training to prepare.
“You have to watch this video at your house, then you have to do more training when you got there,” Jack explained.
And about his experience, he said: “It was really exciting but when you first push off a wall you just fly super-fast and then you need to learn a lot while you’re in zero gravity.
“[The scariest part was] probably that you might hit somebody else by accident.”
Jack experienced zero gravity 18 times, each lasting about 30 seconds. After a few initial runs, he grew more comfortable and began attempting mid-air tricks.
“I tried to catch water in my mouth, I did a backflip, a 360°…”
His passion for sports, including basketball and skiing, may have contributed to his ability to pull off these stunts.
About her son’s experience, Jessica said: “He was a little bit nervous at first, but once he got going he was a natural!
“He had so much fun, you could see it in his face.”
Jack aspires to be an astronaut when he grows up, and his next goal is to become the youngest person to go to space.
“[Being a record breaker feels] really crazy,” Jack confessed.
“I’ve looked at this book with my friends, and I’ve always thought ‘Hm, what could I do to get in there?’ and when I heard that [I did it] I was stoked!”
Jokingly, his mum commented: “He’s over the moon – pun intended!”
His advice to other kids who want to break world records is:
“Try your hardest, if you fail at one [record] you can try another and don’t be afraid to try something.”
Congratulations, Jack, you are Officially Amazing.
