Ultimate sports

[soubriquet 0]

Joe Kittinger's 100,000 Ft. Balloon Jump in 1960

 

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 a craft 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 2 a.m. 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 4 a.m., 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 feet, 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 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, and 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 aircrews 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 busted. 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.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

Wow, that makes my skydiving jumps look like nothing

 

Awesome!!

[Fattwins 0]

the prefect jump really, that man had no fear

[nzlegend 1]

I saw a doco about it once, the man sure had balls.

[mattlucas 0]

That's pretty cool

[Ocean11 0]

 

Wheeeeeeeeeee!

 

(It doesn't explain in that interview why he had a big box of Kleenex taped to his arse. But we can guess.)

[Yuki's Passion 1]

Guess that sets the record for the highest HALO jump.

 

I started skydiving and rockclimbing in college to get over my fear of heights. Think that rockclimbing was the worst for me cuz it is more real, skydiving feels surreal, although at 5000 feet climbing out onto the wing of an airplane to jump off makes you rethink your mental state.

 

But, my biggest goal was to start BASE jumping. A good mate of mine from Atlanta was a professional climber who started base jumping and I got hooked on adrenaline rushes from climbing and skydiving. But, since I moved to Japan was never able to finish my A.F.F. jumps nor get my skydiving license - so still have never BASE jumped.

 

Skiing gives me a great rush though, as does surfing

[mattlucas 0]

I'm sure you should be able to find your way onto some big buildings

Security can't be that tight here

[soubriquet 0]

How do you fancy driving this:

 

 

That's a GE J79, producing 17,500 hp (13MW). I wonder what the induction noise was at 927 kph?

 

Art Arfons.

[kintaro 0]

Hey CB, I've also done some skydiving on the North Shore of Oahu. It's a trip, eh? The only scary part is squating in that airplane doorway before you have to jump....the rest is bliss.

[soubriquet 0]

Here's a new one (to me).

 

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Paratroopers_could_fly_200km_with_new_wings_system_Janes.html

 

 

Austrian extreme parachuter Felix Baumgartner jumps out of a transport plane, unseen, above Dover, southern England, at an altitude of 10,000 metres, to cross the strait between England and France in an unpowered flight on Thursday. With a carbon-fibre wing fixed on his back, he flew the 35 kilometres to Calais, landing there with a parachute. With the new technology being developed by German firm Elektroniksystem und Logistik and Draeger, paratroopers will soon be able to truly fly. Photo courtesy RedBull

[Yuki's Passion 1]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Kintaro:
Hey CB, I've also done some skydiving on the North Shore of Oahu. It's a trip, eh? The only scary part is squating in that airplane doorway before you have to jump....the rest is bliss.

sorry kintaro, I never saw this post until now.

Yeah, lookin out the door always made my balls shrivel up into my stomach. But more than that, when I was doing my 5000/7000 meter static-line jumps I had to climb out onto the wing of the airplane. Yes, theres a small little platform to get over on, but being scared shitless, palms sweating, and knees buckling under me, and me thinking WTF am I doin, it didnt help. I always felt better after letting goooooooooooooooooo!

[Rag-Doll 0]

"They will be going up as skydivers. Somebody will beat it someday. Records are made to be busted. 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."

 

I'm pretty sure people have died trying to better the record.

[me jane 0]

Doesn't BASE jumping have a fatality rate of 1/10 or something crazy like that?

[bushpig 0]

pretty high mejane. This just in...

Aussie Base jumper dies in Norway

[soubriquet 0]

Let's take it to the next level.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/10/17/scidive117.xml

 

"Forget about bungee jumping and hang gliding. The next adrenaline pumping daredevil stunt will be hurtling back to Earth by "space diving," if entrepreneurs and extreme sports enthusiasts have their way.

 

Captain Joe Kittinger of the US Air Force starts his record-breaking descent

 

They are preparing skydives from the edge of space to beat a record set by Captain Joe Kittinger of the US Air Force in 1960, who jumped from an altitude of 20 miles, reaching a speed of around 700 miles per hour in his 13 minute descent to the ground."

[grungy-gonads 54]

Space diving. Very cool.

[soubriquet 0]

I'd like to have a go in one of these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mBMYUljwd8