‘Daredevil’ plummets to earth from edge of space

Just 1 hour and 40 minutes earlier, he lifted off from Roswell on board a space capsule attached to a 165-foot-high helium balloon to an altitude of nearly 71,580 feet before making the free fall to Earth. He aims to repeat this and set a record – by jumping from 120,000 feet.

His attempt to dare atmospheric limits holds the potential to provide valuable medical and scientific research data for future pioneers and also, to make ambitious and innovative breakthroughs in spacesuit technology.

The expedition’s mission was to fly over the so-called “Armstrong Line,” and test a manned flight under real conditions for the first time. This area in aerospace is where earthly boundaries and laws are rendered inhospitable for humans, where liquids begin to vaporise and temperatures plunge to minus 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Here, humans need a spacesuit to protect them from the forces of depressurisation and lack of oxygen. To get there, Baumgartner first had to make it through another “death zone” closer to Earth.The ascent, at nearly 1,200 feet per minute, and his subsequent exit from the capsule, went exactly as planned. Baumgartner plunged towards Earth at nearly 365 miles per hour after opening his parachute at 7,900 feet. He plans to fall in his record jump at over 600 mph and break the sound barrier.

On the extremely cold temperatures he encountered, Baumgartner revealed, “I could hardly move my hands. We’re going to have to do some work on that aspect.” The free fall took just over three minutes and he said he needs to acclimatise better to the extraordinary dimensions of space. “I wanted to open the parachute after descending for a while, but I noticed that I was still at an altitude of 50,000 feet,” he said.

“When that balloon took off, I was thinking it works, I could feel it, because everything was smooth. Free fall took forever – I have never been in free fall for so long. It feels like ‘Hey, I think I have to pull (the parachute)…then you look at your altimeter and think hell no, I think I have a couple of minutes,” he confessed.

This test jump for his 120,000 ft leap made him only the third person to fall from that altitude and survive. Those who did so from greater heights were Russia’s Eugene Andreev and American Joseph Kittinger, both in the 1960s. Kittinger, a living legend now 83 years-old, is a mentor for the Stratos project and headed Baumgartner’s test flight from Mission Control. Kittinger is integral to this team of nearly 100 top experts recruited from the fields of science, medicine and aerospace. Technical director Art Thompson, who was involved with the construction of the Stealth Bomber, assembled the roster, as he joins famous aerospace medical director, Dr Jon Clark, who served as the crew surgeon for six Space Shuttle flights. Other affiliates with the mission include Mike Todd, the life-support engineer, who facilitates Baumgartner’s survival by ensuring his equipment is in perfect order; Andy Walshe, who ensures Baumgartner is in peak physical performance for this arduous task; airborne trainer Luke Aikins; and NASA Dryden consulting engineer Marle Hewett, who directed launch operations and coordinated test procedures. They are responsible for the stability of the project and for the strategies that guarantee Baumgartner’s life.

The successful test demonstrated that the capsule system functioned perfectly. It also proved the giant stratospheric balloon was in fine condition. It was inflated with helium in the early morning hours and then remotely deflated after Baumgartner’s descent, exactly as planned. The capsule that Baumgartner had been riding in was detached from the balloon with an (incendiary) device and it parachuted to land undamaged in the desert. Two previous attempts to launch the test were scrubbed as conditions in the New Mexico desert were unfavourable. After the seasonally windy conditions pass, another test from 90,000 feet will occur before Baumgartner attempts his record breaker later this year. It’s an intricate process as meteorologist, Don Day, oversees the best conditions for the launch.

Despite unforeseen dangers involved, Kittinger and crew were delighted with the success and assessment. “Overall, it feels good if you performed well. The team is happy, everybody is happy…it is a good day. This test serves as the perfect motivation for the team for the next step,” affirmed Baumgartner.