On 14 October 2017, an object from another star system passed within 24 million kilometres of Earth. Designated 1I/ʻOumuamua, it was the first confirmed interstellar visitor ever detected, tumbling through our solar system at extraordinary speed before disappearing back into the void. Its odd shape, unexplained acceleration, and lack of visible outgassing left astronomers with more questions than answers. Exactly five years earlier, on 14 October 2012, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner stepped out of a pressurised capsule 39 kilometres above New Mexico and fell to Earth. During his four-minute descent, he became the first human to break the sound barrier without mechanical assistance, reaching Mach 1.24 in freefall. One event was planned to the last detail. The other arrived without warning. Both happened on the same date, and both remind us that the universe is far stranger, and far larger, than our daily routines tend to suggest.
