Some people say that childhood dreams don’t always come true, but Jack turned his dream into reality – a record-breaking one.
At the age of 8 years and 33 days, Jack Martin Pressman from USA became the youngest person to fly in zero gravity. 🧑🚀
He did it on a special US commercial flight run by Zero G, a company that lets people experience zero gravity for astronaut training, research or… for fun!
Jack has been fascinated by space for as long as he can remember.
His mum, Jessica, told us:
“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.”
That’s such a cool idea if you’re looking to redecorate your room. 👀
Jack decided to go for the record after chatting with his dad, Jason, about the things people regret and why it's important to grab big opportunities.
Jason said: “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.”
The Concorde was a very fast aeroplane that could fly from one country to another in just a few hours, much quicker than regular planes! ✈️
“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 7 so that’s a little peculiar, but I respect it’, and so we booked it, and we went as soon as he turned 8 years old.”
Let this be a lesson to keep chasing your dreams. ❤️
Before the attempt, the Pressman family was properly trained.
“You have to watch this video at your house, then you have to do more training when you got there,” Jack told us. 🤓
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 flew in zero gravity 18 times, each lasting about 30 seconds. After a few initial runs, he grew more comfortable and started attempting cool mid-air tricks.
“I tried to catch water in my mouth, I did a backflip, a 360°…”
Wow. 🤩
Jack's love for sports, like basketball and skiing, probably helped him do these awesome stunts!
Are you sporty like Jack, or do you have other hobbies?
About Jack’s experience, his mum 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.”
Do you think you would enjoy experiencing zero gravity, or would you be scared?
Jack wants 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!”
His mum said: “He’s over the moon – pun intended!” 🤣
So do you want to hear Jack’s advice to kids like you who want to break world records?
“Try your hardest, if you fail at one [record] you can try another and don’t be afraid to try something.”
Thanks for the tip, Jack. 🫡
