(CNN) -- Felix Baumgartner made headlines around the world when he fell 24 miles from near-space to a desert in Roswell, New Mexico, and lived to tell the tale. 

The jump put Baumgartner in the record books and spelled publicity for the sponsor, Red Bull, a caffeinated sugar-y drink building a reputation for risk and adventure. 

Now that the stunt is over, does it mean something to the rest of us? Baumgartner risked death. Why? Was it worth it? 

Something in the human character must yearn to break into the record books. Baumgartner did set a record for supersonic travel by a human, 65 years after Chuck Yeager exceeded the speed of sound in an experimental plane. One used a rocket engine, the other used gravity; both went pretty fast. 

But Yeager was testing experimental planes at higher and higher altitudes and speeds, one of the steps toward getting into space. He might have done it for the thrill but there was clearly a higher purpose, namely, the development of flight technologies. 

The Red Bull extravaganza, said several involved with the project, would be useful for developing new and better space suits. My guess is that tests in a wind tunnel or a freezer would suffice, and neither would require risking a life. 

The tech behind the Stratos jump 

Or, astronauts could test suits outside the International Space Station, which is moving roughly 10 times faster than Baumgartner, in a much thinner atmosphere about 300 miles above the Earth, the real conditions that astronauts might face on a space walk. 
Did Chuck Yeager hold the old record?
 Chuck Yeager exceeded the speed of sound in an experimental plane.