Monday, 17. March 2008, 10:03:41
This is a very interesting read.
My grandfather, who worked for NASA as an engineer in the late 60's and 70's, emailed this to me.. This guy is amazing and even more amazing that he survived this "test flight".
This one gives the term Test Pilot a whole new meaning. Joe Kittinger
is not a household aviation name like Neil Armstrong or Chuck Yeager.
But what he did for the U. S. Space Program is comparable.
On Aug. 16, 1960, as research for the then-fledgling U. S. Space
Program, Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger rode a helium
balloon to
the edge of space, 102,800 feet above the earth, a feat in itself.
Then, wearing just a thin pressure suit and breathing supplemental
oxygen, he leaned over the cramped confines of his gondola and
jumped--into the 110-degree-below-zero, near-vacuum of space. Within
seconds his body accelerated to 714mph in the thin air, breaking the
sound barrier.
After free-falling for more than four and a half minutes, slowed
finally by friction from the heavier air below, he felt his parachute
open at 14,000 feet, and he coasted gently down to the New Mexico
desert floor.
Kittinger's feat showed scientists that astronauts could survive the
harshness of space with just a pressure suit and that man could eject
from aircraft at extreme altitudes and survive. ; Upon Kittinger's
return to base, a congratulatory telegram was waiting from the Mercury
seven astronauts--including: Alan Shepard and John Glenn.
More than four decades later Kittinger's two world records--the
highest parachute jump, and the only man to break the sound barrier
without an aircraft and live--still stand. We decided to visit the
retired colonel and Aviation Hall of Famer, now 75, at his home in
Altamonte Springs, Florida, to recall his historic jump.
FORBES GLOBAL: Take us back to New Mexico and Aug. 16, 1960.
Joe Kittinger: We got up at 2am to start filling the helium balloon.
At sea level, it was 35 to 40 feet wide and 200 feet high; at
altitude, due to the low air pressure, it expanded to 25 stories in
width, and still was 20 stories high! At 4am I began breathing pure
oxygen for two hours. That's how long it takes to remove all the
nitrogen from your blood so you don't get the bends going so high so
fast. Then it was a lengthy dress procedure layering warm clothing
under my pressure suit. They kept me in air-conditioning until it was
time to launch because we were in the desert and I wasn't supposed to
sweat. If I did, my clothes would freeze on the way up.
How was your ascent?
It took an hour and a half to get to altitude. It was cold. At 40,000 feet,
the glove on my right hand hadn't inflated. I knew that if I radioed
my doctor, he would abort the flight. If that happened, I knew I might
never get another chance because there were lots of people who didn't
want this test to happen. I took a calculated risk, that I might lose
use of my right hand. It quickly swelled up, and I did lose use for
the duration of the flight. But the rest of the pressure suit worked.
When I reached 102,800 f eet, maximum altitude, I wasn't quite over
the target. So I drifted for 11 minutes. The winds were out of the
east.
What's it look like from so high up?
You can see about 400 miles in every direction. The formula is 1.25 x
the sq. root of the altitude in thousands of feet. (The square root of
102,000 ft is 319 X 1.25 = 399 miles) The most fascinating thing is
that it's just black overhead, the transition from normal blue to
black is very stark. You can't see stars because there's a lot of
glare from the sun, so your pupils are too small.
I was struck with the beauty of it. But I was also struck by how
hostile it is: more than 100 degrees below zero, no air. If my
protection suit failed, I would be dead in a few seconds. Blood
actually boils above 62,000 feet. I went through my 46-step checklist,
disconnected from the balloon's power supply an d lost all
communication with the ground. I was totally under power from the kit
on my back. When everything was done, I stood up, turned around to the
door, took one final look out and said a silent prayer: "Lord, take
care of me now." Then I just jumped over the side.
What were you thinking as you took that step?
It's the beginning of a test. I had gone through simulations many
times--more than 100. I rolled over and looked up, and there was the
balloon just roaring into space. I realized that the balloon wasn't
roaring into space; I was going down at a fantastic rate! At about
90,000 feet, I reached 714mph. The altimeter on my wrist was
unwinding very rapidly. But there was no sense of speed. Where you
determine speed is visual--if you see something go flashing by. But
nothing flashes by 20 miles up--there are no signposts there, and you
are way above any clouds. When the chute opened, the rest of the jump
was anticlimactic, because everything had worked perfectly. I landed
12 or 13 minutes later, and there was my crew waiting. We were
elated. How about your right hand? It hurt--there was quite a bit of
swelling and the blood pressure in my arm was high. But that went
away in a few days, and I regained full use of my hand.
What about attempts to break your record?
We did it for air crews and astronauts--for the learning, not to set a
record. They will be going up as skydivers. Somebody will beat it
someday. Records are made to be broken. And I'll be elated. But I'll
also be concerned that they're properly trained. If they're not,
they're taking a heck of a risk.
WIDGETIZE