1/9/2024 0 Comments Longest fall joe kittingerJK: It hurt–there was quite a bit of swelling and the blood pressure in my arm was high. I landed 12 or 13 minutes later, and there was my crew waiting. When the chute opened, the rest of the jump was anticlimactic because everything had worked perfectly. But nothing flashes by 20 miles up–there are no signposts there, and you are way above any clouds. Where you determine speed is visual–if you see something go flashing by. The altimeter on my wrist was unwinding very rapidly. 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. I rolled over and looked up, and there was the balloon just roaring into space. I had gone through simulations many times–more than 100. JC: What were you thinking as you took that step? 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. I was totally under power from the kit on my back. 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. If my protection suit failed, I would be dead in a few seconds. But I was also struck by how hostile it is: more than 100 degrees below zero, no air. You can’t see stars because there’s a lot of glare from the sun, so your pupils are too small. The most fascinating thing is that it’s just black overhead–the transition from normal blue to black is very stark. JK: You can see about 400 miles in every direction. When I reached 102,800 feet, maximum altitude, I wasn’t quite over the target. But the rest of the pressure suit worked. It quickly swelled up, and I did lose use for the duration of the flight. I took a calculated risk, that I might lose use of my right hand. 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 knew that if I radioed my doctor, he would abort the flight. At 40,000 feet, the glove on my right hand hadn’t inflated. JK: It took an hour and a half to get to altitude. If I did, my clothes would freeze on the way up. 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. Then it was a lengthy dress procedure layering warm clothing under my pressure suit. 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. I began breathing pure oxygen for two hours. 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. Jim Clash: Take us back to New Mexico on Aug. Upon Kittinger’s return to base, a congratulatory telegram was waiting from the Mercury Seven astronauts – including Glenn, Scott Carpenter and Alan Shepard. Following are edited excerpts from a chat with Kittinger at his home in Altamonte Springs, FL. Kittinger’s test 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.
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