Space diving

The first stratospheric space dive was in 1959 when Colonel Joseph William Kittinger II (July 27, 1928 - December 9, 2022) in Tampa, Florida, United States a former command pilot, career military officer and retired Colonel in the United States Air Force dived from a high-altitude balloon. He participated in Project Excelsior, testing the effects on pilots of ejecting at high altitude and in 1960 set a record for the highest, longest-distance, and longest-duration skydive, from a height greater than 102,000 feet (31 km).[5]

On 1 November 1962, Yevgeni Andreyev and Pyotr Dolgov ascended from Volsk, near Saratov.[6] Andreyev jumped from the capsule at 83,523 feet (25.458 km) and free fell 80,380 feet (24.50 km) before successfully deploying his parachute. Dolgov remained in the capsule and ascended to 93,970 feet (28.64 km). Dolgov was primarily testing an experimental pressure suit, and would have deployed a drogue chute like Kittinger's earlier jump. As he exited the gondola, he struck his helmet and cracked the visor, leading to depressurization and his death.

In 1965–1966, Nick Piantanida accomplished a set of unsuccessful attempts to jump from 123,500 feet (37.6 km) and 120,000 feet (37 km). During the last attempt Piantanida's face mask had depressurized. His ground controllers immediately jettisoned the balloon at close to 56,000 feet (17,000 m). Piantanida barely survived the fall, and the lack of oxygen left him brain damaged and in a coma from which he never recovered.

In the early 1990s, Kittinger played a lead role with NASA assisting British SAS Soldier Charles "Nish" Bruce to break his highest parachute jump record.[7] The project was suspended in 1994 following Bruce's mental health breakdown.

In 1997 parachutist and pilot Cheryl Stearns formed Stratoquest,[8] aiming to break Kittinger's record as the first female space diver. Due either to a significant shoulder injury[9] or funding issues for the project[10] this plan did not come to fruition. By the time Stearns was prepared to attempt her jump, Felix Baumgartner had completed his jump and Stearns shelved her event.

In 2012, Felix Baumgartner broke Kittinger's highest altitude and Andreyev's longest-distance free fall records, when, on October 14, he jumped from over 128,000 ft (39 km).[11][12]

In 2014, Alan Eustace set the current world record highest and longest-distance free fall jump when he jumped from 135,908 feet (41.425 km) and remained in free fall for 123,334 feet (37.592 km).[2] However, Joseph Kittinger still holds the record for longest-duration free fall, at 4 minutes and 36 seconds, which he accomplished during his 1960 jump from 102,800 feet (31.3 km).

Comparison of approximate altitudes of successful stratospheric jumps and various objects with a graph of International Standard Atmosphere temperature and pressure.

There are several technical requirements and challenges to the possibility of space jumping. These requirements would be somewhat eased when entering the atmosphere from a simple drop, where the heat of reentry would be considerably less than that of reentering from orbit.[13] At any given density of air, the terminal velocity of a person is much lower than that of a heavy spacecraft. This is because starting from a stationary platform means that fall speed never exceeds the local terminal velocity (though this is quite high in thin atmosphere) and a small light body slows down relatively quickly as the atmosphere thickens.

Parachutes would require increased strength to slow the higher weights associated with the added equipment.[14]

NASA is known to have investigated the concept in case of an emergency situation on Space Shuttle orbiters where alternative methods of reentry are not available. However, such planning has not moved beyond the conceptual stage given the high energies involved in reentry from orbital speeds.

• Low Earth orbit, begins at around 160 km
• Project Excelsior, c. 1960, including Kittinger
• MOOSE, a study of an orbital bail-out system using a parachute
• Red Bull Stratos

Jumpers and prospective jumpers

• Yevgeni Nikolayevich Andreyev
• Cheryl Stearns, plans for Stratoquest
• Steve Truglia, plans for Space Jump
• Michel Fournier, Le Grand Saut attempts
• Nick Piantanida, died after Strato Jump III attempt in 1966
• Olav Zipser, Free Fly Astronaut Project
• Charles "Nish" Bruce
• Victor Prather

Highest space dive records
Altitude	Set by	Date
23.287 kilometres (76,400 ft)	Joseph Kittinger	16 November 1959
25.458 kilometres (83,520 ft)	Yevgeni Andreev	1 November 1962
31.333 kilometres (102,800 ft)	Joseph Kittinger	16 August 1960
38.969 kilometres (127,850 ft)	Felix Baumgartner	14 October 2012
41.419 kilometres (135,890 ft)	Alan Eustace	24 October 2014[15]

• In Dark Star, 1974 film, Doolittle decides to 'surf' on debris to the planet or die in the attempt.
• Star Trek: Generations, in a deleted scene from 1994 film which depicts a fictional space jump
• Star Trek: Voyager, in 1998 the season 5 episode 3 titled Extreme Risks which depicts a fictional space jump
• Star Trek, a 2009 film which depicts a fictional space jump
• Ad Astra, a 2019 film which depicts a fictional space jump

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Space diving.

• The Red Bull Stratos Project
• Orbital outfitters space diving suits
• Joe Kittinger's 1960 space jump video.
• Petruk's calculations about 500-km space jump