"Parachuting from the Stratosphere"   

By José Reyes 

                 In the late 50's the United States Air Force had developed sophisticated,  jet propelled air crafts with the ability to travel faster than the speed of sound (673 MPH-In Air) and confidently, perform difficult maneuvers at the same time. These were great achievements but with these feats came the increasing ability to travel to enormous heights. These aerodynamic jettisons were built to endure these incredible obstacles and the fearless pilots steering them were able to withstand the air pressure that accompanied them throughout their adventurous flights but if there was some kind of misshapen, a safe escape system was not present for them to bail out of harm's way. While this was occurring, NASA had created a rocket that could send an astronaut into space. These two pioneering agencies became very concerned about the flight crews adventuring into these new heights and with the reliability of the existing parachute systems. They had to create a parachute system that would be able to handle the dangerous new heights being achieved. 

                 Project Excelsior, headed by a Captain Joseph W. Kittinger JR. emerged into existence for safety reasons after an enormous problem was discovered. Scientist became aware that a parachute deployed in such a high altitude would jeopardize the life of the crew members and would send them into an uncontrollable flat spin of 200 RPM's, not to mention, most people would just enter unconsciousness at these heights. Then came a technician, MR. Francis Beaupre, who was also working on this project and the problem was solved. He created a parachute system named the "Beaupre MultiStage Parachute".  This system consisted of small stabilizer parachute that would deploy immediately to prevent uncontrolled spinning and tumbling. Beaupre's parachute system worked automatically in conjunction to the altitude changes that would occur during the dangerous fall. By the time the crewmember reached about 17,500 feet, where the air is thicker, then the main chute would automatically deploy and bring the crewmember to a safe landing. Now that the system was developed it had to be tested. 

                 The Air Force had to find a very brave man with a lot of guts, to test this parachute system and it had to be done in several jumps, in different altitudes. Capt. Kittinger stepped up and volunteered himself for the daring experiments. Capt. Kittinger was a unique person with a "Daredevil" nature and had "Ice in the his veins". He made three daring jumps but the last one was how the saying goes "Over the top". The first jump was at 76,400 feet on November 16, 1959. On the second jump (Excelsior II) he jumped at a slightly lower altitude of  74,700 feet and it took place on December 11, 1959. The third jump (Excelcior III) was done at the astonishing Altitude of 102,800 feet. We are talking about, almost 20 miles up and right into the stratosphere!  At this point all you see around you is blackness. This jump still stands as the highest parachute jump ever made and I personally feel that nobody will ever break it.                                

                 To understand why I feel this way, you must picture yourself in this scenario and understand all the strain this warrior suffered while he was ascending and especially while freefalling down from such an incredible altitude. First of all, Project Excelsior did not have the resources to fly aircrafts so they used a balloon gondola designed in Wright Field to travel the desired distances. This open one-seat balloon would be filled with 3 million cubic feet of Helium, that's crazy already.

                  Now, picture this, you're strapped onto an open balloon, with a pressure suit and a tight oxygen mask around your face, sitting there in open air, outside on this open balloon. You're breathing pure oxygen now, because the altitude would just shred your lungs while causing your body to explode and take your inside's out. You're slowly going up to 102,800 feet and while you are ascending to this desired height, you look down and around, you start to realize that there is no blue sky around you anymore and the earth seems to be disappearing and blackness starts to devour you.

          Alright now, you reached 102,800 feet, you stand up, look down and jump!

           There you go! The small stabilizer parachute opens up, immediately, causing you to slow down a considerable amount, no way, man! The small chute just stabilizes you, you are going down, get this, at "714 Miles Per Hour", that's faster than the speed of sound!

           Besides breaking the sound barrier the temperature around you has gone down to "Minus 94 degrees" and this will go on for "4 Minutes and 36 seconds", that's an eternity!

           Now you gradually start to feel warmer and reach 18,000, the main parachute automatically opens and if you are still awake, you'll notice the clouds around you, but remember, you still have a long way to go and anything can happen with all the strong wind currents at this treacherous height. 

            Well fortunately, Capt. Kittinger made it, yes, after "13 Minutes and 45 Seconds", unbelievable! 

           Now you know why I feel no one will ever break this record of 102,800 feet and If I'm not mistaken, the guy in second place parachuted only from 38,800 feet, that's a big difference!

                             Important Facts on Joseph W. Kittinger Jr.

- From 1950 to 1953 he served as a jet pilot in the 86th Fighter Bomber Squadron in Germany and then was assigned to the Air Force Missile Development Center (AFMDC) at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

- On June 2, 1957, while stationed at the AFMDC, Captain Kittinger made a balloon flight to 96,000 feet in the first flight of the Air Force's "Project Man high" preceding Lt. Col. Dave Simons, who reached 102,000 feet and 1st. Lt. Clifton McClure, who rose to 98,000 feet. For his "Man High I" flight, Captain Kittinger was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. I guess he broke that record in Project Excelsior III.

- In addition to the altitude record, he set records for longest freefall and fastest speed by a man without an aircraft. For work accomplished during the project, Captain Kittinger was awarded the C.B. Harmon Trophy, which was presented by President Eisenhower on October 3, 1960.

- The J.J. Jeffries Award. The Leo Stevens Parachute Medal.

- The Wingfoot Lighter-Than-Air Society Achievement Award.

- On December 13-14, 1962, Captain Kittinger and astronomer William C. White rose to an altitude of 82,200 feet in a balloon over Holloman AFB, New Mexico. Staying 18.5 hours to check variations in brightness of star images caused by the atmosphere. The balloon astronomy experiment was named "Project Stargazer".

- Kittinger volunteered for three combat tours in Vietnam and served as commander of the famous 555th "Triple Nickel" Tactical Fighter Squadron flying F-4's . He downed a MiG-21 before he was shot down on May 11,1972. He was captured by the Viet Cong and spent 11 months in captivity as a POW.

- He won the Gordon-Bennett balloon races in 1982, 1984 and 1985 before accomplishing his most ambitious feat, a solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. It was on September 14,1984 when he boarded a helium balloon and crossed the Atlantic, crash landing in northern Italy 3 and a half days later. He traveled 3,500 Miles and set a record for the longest solo balloon flight as well as a distance record for this class of balloon.

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