--- Begin Message --- Title: Joe Kittinger (Good Read)
Subject: Joe Kittinger (Good read)
>
> 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.
>
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