There will always be brave souls who are in mortal danger. Simple parachute jumps are not enough for them, give them such extreme sports that the blood in their veins turns cold. What makes these madmen do unthinkable things? Thirst for fame, money, national recognition? In this article, we will talk about the highest skydiving from the stratosphere?
World record to date
In 2014, Alan Eustace, Vice President of Google set a new world record. He jumped with a parachute from a height of 41 km. During the time of free fall, which took 5 minutes at most, he developed a speed of 1322.88 km per hour, which is more than the speed of sound.
The rise to such a height was made thanks to a balloon filled with 1000 m3 helium. The journey to the stratosphere takes 4 hours, and the descent takes 15 minutes. The entire experiment was kept secret until Alan's landing. It is the highest skydive in the world to date.
The first words Eustace uttered on earth were: "It was wild,wild ride." Later, he recalls that the worst thing was to climb. He held on to the module, pulling his legs up to keep his balance. At the time of the fall, he made two complete revolutions around his head, after which he opened a parachute, which stabilized his position in the air.
Felix Baumgartner Jump
But the highest parachute jump in the world, made two years earlier, made a national sensation. Australian extreme jumper jumped from a height of 39 km. The uniqueness of this act was that it could be observed in real time. 10 million viewers gathered at the TV screens at that moment.
It took months to prepare. On day-X, a huge helium balloon lifted the capsule in which Felix sat to a height of 39 km. It was originally planned that the jump would be made from a height of 31 km, but the extreme athlete managed to stop the climb only after 8 km.
Free flight
Seeing the Earth from space is a real miracle, available to the elite. And when the Earth is in your palm, and you are without a spaceship, it is simply impossible to imagine, let alone describe in words. To take a step towards the unknown and plunge into the abyss is an act of the most courageous people.
Freefall during the highest parachute jump was 4 minutes 20 seconds. During this time, the irreparable could happen: Felix went into a terrible tailspin, he was spinning at breakneck speed to such an extent that he almost lost consciousness. For this shareminutes he lost contact with the Earth.
The parachute flight lasted 10 minutes. The total descent time was about 15 minutes. The most interesting thing is that the viewers were shown a video broadcast with a delay of 20 minutes. This was done so that in case of an accident, people would not see the bloody footage.
Other flights
All high- altitude flights before this date back to the middle of the 20th century. All subsequent attempts until 2012 ended in failure.
The very first high- altitude flight can be considered the experiment of the crew of the stratospheric balloon "USSR-1-bis", which took place in 1935. Zille K. Ya., Prilutsky Yu. G., Verigo A. B. collected scientific data. When they had already begun to descend, it turned out that the shell was damaged and they would not sit down together. Then Prilutsky and Verigo jumped off with a parachute at the edge of the troposphere and landed safely. And Zilla managed to land the aircraft.
In September 1945, another Soviet athlete made the highest parachute jump in the world at that time. It was Vasily Romanyuk. He rose into the stratosphere to a height of 13,108.5 m and jumped. He was in free fall for almost three minutes. Romanyuk managed to open a rescue parachute at an altitude of 1,000 m. At that time, it was a unique case that broke all high- altitude records. It turns out that an ordinary guy, born on an average Ukrainian collective farm, has broken 18 records in his life. In 1957, he took to the skies again, this time to the mark of 13,400 m. After stepping down, he immediately opened his parachute, butthe height record was set.
Joseph Kittinger
This man became an outstanding personality, and did a lot to make Felix Baumgartner's experiment take place 50 years after his own jump. In 1959, the Excelsior project was launched. The plans were to make the three highest parachute jumps. The first one was in November 1959. Then an altitude of 23,300 m was noted. There were problems, and the stabilizing parachute did not open. Kittinger went into a tailspin and lost consciousness. Saved by his main parachute, which opened automatically.
A month later, Joseph tried again, which this time was successful. For a jump from a height of 22,760 m, he was awarded the Leo Stevens Parachute Medal. A year later, the final experiment took place within the framework of the project. In the middle of the 20th century, Kittinger became the first person in the world to ascend into the stratosphere without a spacecraft. His limit was 31,300 meters.
The jump was getting harder. Already in the sky, Joseph discovered a microcrack in his glove, but did not report it to Earth. Having jumped from a space height, he reached a speed of 998 km / h before he opened his parachute. He did it in advance, at an altitude of 5,500 m, thus not breaking the record for the duration of a free fall. On the ground, it turned out that his hand was badly injured, but Joseph managed to break several records.
Evgeny Andreev
On November 1, 1962, two people planned to make the highest jump: Evgeny Andreev and Petr Dolgov. They climbed to a height of 25,500m and stepped down. Evgeny Andreev flew 25,000 m infree fall, and only at a distance of 500 meters from the surface opened a parachute. This case became the longest jump in the world. The athlete miraculously managed to survive.
The fate of his partner was tragic. His suit depressurized during the jump. He died before reaching Earth.
Future plans
The most ambitious plan can be considered the dream of the French athlete Michel Fournier, who wanted to make the highest jump from a height of 40 thousand meters. The first attempt was already made, but while Michel was preparing for the launch, his balloon flew away without him. According to rumors, Fournier is not ready to give up and will try again.
Maybe it was a sign? No one knows what will happen if a person can so much exceed supersonic speed. And if it is torn apart right in the sky? These questions have been asked more than once by scientists and skydivers. But, nevertheless, courage and courage each time make them rise to the sky again and again.
