Page 18 - Aerotech News and Review, April 7, 2017

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vided valuable lessons for use in the manufacture of future space suits. Ad- ditionally, the capsule was designed to maintain a cabin pressure equivalent to an altitude of 16,000 feet, or 1,600 feet lower than conditions experienced by climbers at Mt. Everest Base Camp in Nepal. Baumgartner would, there- fore, not have to be exposed to the stratospheric environment until the last 10 minutes before jumping.
To reach the upper stratosphere, Baumgartner rode in a helium-filled balloon made of 40 acres of ultrathin plastic no thicker than a typical dry cleaning bag. When fully inflated, it was as wide as a football field, mak- ing it the largest balloon in the world. As testing of the system progressed Baumgartner made two practice jumps from altitudes of 71,581 and 96,650 feet. He soon discovered that his greatest challenge was staving off an intense feeling of claustrophobia from being confined within his pressure suit during the long slow ascent. Ad- ditionally, according to Thompson, the Austrian was used to working alone and had some difficulty adjusting to a situation where he had to rely on his fellow team members.
Finally, on Oct. 14, 2012, exactly 65 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier flying in an experimental rocket powered airplane, Baumgartner ascended to a peak al- titude of 128,100 feet. He depressur-
runway near Roswell. He climbed at a constant rate of 1,100 feet per min- ute for a little more than two hours, ultimately reaching an altitude of 135,890 feet — a new world record. At a signal from the ground, a small explosive device released Eustace for his 15-minute descent. Plummeting to- ward the ground, he managed to make two backflips that allowed him brief glimpses of his balloon. “The view was amazing,” he said. “I saw the
darkness of space and the curvature of the Earth.”
Eustace broke several records including national record for high- est exit altitude, world and national records for freefall under a drogue chute, and national record for vertical speed. Additionally, with a top speed of 822 miles per hour, he became the second person to break the sound bar- rier outside an aircraft. Baumgartner still holds the records for vertical
freefall distance without a drogue and vertical speed without a drogue.
Eustace explained that his feat was simply part of a larger effort to explore the upper atmosphere and solve the problems of stratospheric freefall, building on the work of pio- neers like Kittinger. “We all faced the same problem but everybody solved it a different way and we all learned from each other.” He noted that using a self-contained life-support system meant it was possible to use any type of vehicle — sailplane, rocket, etc. — to reach the stratosphere and return safely. “By separating the question of how you survive from how you get up there, it opens up some possibilities.”
Art Thompson pointed out that more than three billion people viewed the Red Bull Stratos mission via tele- vision and streaming media. “It in- spired many young people to consider careers in science and engineering,” he said.
Kittinger emphasized value of teamwork and demurred, “I was just fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.” He said he was proud to be a part of both Project Excelsior and the Red Bull Stratos team, and praised the StratEx project as well. “We all worked to improve our scientific knowledge for the good of Mankind.”
Photograph by Peter Merlin
Alan Eustace describes his historic feat to an audience at the Los Angeles County Air Show in Lancaster, Calif.
a self-contained commercial spacesuit that would allow human beings to ex- plore high-altitude regions of Earth’s atmosphere as easily and safely as scuba divers explore the depths of the ocean.
To tackle this challenge, he hired Paragon Space Development Corpo- ration to lead a project he dubbed the Stratospheric Explorer, or StratEx. With additional help from spacesuit manufacturer ILC Dover, it took 18 months to prepare Eustace for his
Red Bull Stratos photograph
As the Red Bull Stratos balloon approached peak altitude, its ultrathin plastic envelope expanded to maximum volume.
From left, Art Thompson, Felix Baumgartner, and Joe Kittinger smile during preparations for Baumgartner’s record-breaking jump. Kittinger served as team mentor and capsule communicator in mission control.
Red Bull Stratos photograph
ized his capsule, opened the hatch, and stepped out into space. Approximately 50 seconds later, he was at 91,316 feet and falling at a speed of 833.9 miles per hour, or Mach 1.24. He had be- come the first person to break the sound barrier without vehicular power. Additionally, he broke world records for highest freefall exit altitude and highest manned balloon flight, though he left the longest freefall record to project mentor Joe Kittinger.
During his initial freefall, with- out a drogue, Baumgartner began to spin but quickly regained control. His speed caused a small sonic boom that he never felt, but which was heard on the ground. After deploying his para- chute, he landed on his feet in the des- ert near Roswell, N.M.
Around the same time the Red Bull team was beginning their project, Alan Eustace conceived an idea to develop
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historic jump. Unlike earlier proj- ects, there would be no capsule or gondola. Eustace planned to simply hang suspended in his suit beneath a balloon containing 35,000 cubic feet of helium. “My project was kind of a stepping-stone along this path of high-altitude exploration and escape systems,” Eustace said. He explained that the self-contained suit simplified the task immensely. “You don’t have to worry about two environments, the suit and a capsule.”
There was another difference, too. Unlike the Red Bull Stratos project, which was undertaken with a great deal of publicity before and during the event, Eustace and the StratEx team labored in utmost secrecy for almost three years and carried just two GoPro cameras to capture his jump.
At dawn on Oct. 24, 2014, Eustace ascended from an abandoned airport
Red Bull Stratos photograph
Above: Felix Baumgartner drops away from the Red Bull Stratos capsule at an altitude of 128,100 feet over the New Mexico desert. Left: Following his jump from 135,890 feet, and supersonic freefall, Eustace completes his descent by parachute like any ordinary skydiver.
Photograph by Paragon Space Development Corporation
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