Watch a man skydive 25,000 feet without a parachute (and survive) - CNET

He did, however, have GPS and lights.

These were to guide him toward a large net that was prepared to cradle him before he struck the Califoia desert.

He was, after all, trying to achieve a world record. No one, surprisingly, had managed this before.

Aikins has skydived once or twice before. Well, the New York Times says he's done it 18,000 times. He did some stunts in "Iron Man 3."

I still don't consider that an excuse for risking life and limbs, just to be broadcast live on Fox.

Aikins is human enough to have admitted to People magazine that he'd had his doubts. He first thought the whole thing insane. After all, the 42-year-old has a wife and a 4-year-old son.

"Two weeks went by and I kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking, if somebody said you had to do this how could it be done?" he told People.

The jump began with a few fellow skydivers, but their parachutes deployed at around 3,000 feet. Then Aikins was alone.

You know this story has a happy ending, don't you? But the view from his helmet cam is still utterly stomach-tuing.