For most children, dreaming of space is just a part of growing up. For Jack Martin Pressman, it became a record-breaking reality. At the age of eight years and 33 days, the young American boy has officially earned the Guinness World Records title for the youngest person to fly in zero gravity.
Jack achieved this extraordinary feat on a commercial flight operated by Zero G, a company that provides weightless flights for a variety of purposes, from astronaut training to public enjoyment. For the flight, Jack and his family experienced a series of parabolas, where the specially modified Boeing 727 aircraft creates short periods of weightlessness.
Jack, who has harbored a fascination with space since he was a toddler, was thrilled by the experience. His mother, Jessica Pressman, told Guinness World Records that they had fostered his love of the cosmos by creating a “secret space room” for him as a child. “It was really exciting,” Jack said, describing the flight. “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.”
During his 18 periods of weightlessness, each lasting about 30 seconds, Jack was captured on video performing mid-air backflips, catching floating jelly beans, and sipping droplets of water in a display of pure joy.
By turning his childhood passion into a historic achievement, Jack Martin Pressman has not only become a world-record holder but has also proven that the sky—and beyond—is no longer a limit for even the youngest of explorers.
