Excelsior project
The Excelsior project was a series of manned parachute jumps from heights of approximately 20 and 30 kilometers. The aim was to test a new type of parachute system that was also suitable for emergency exits at great heights. The program consisted of three jumps by Air Force pilot Joseph Kittinger :
- Excelsior I on November 16, 1959 from 23,300 meters
- Excelsior II on December 11, 1959 from 22,800 meters
- Excelsior III on August 16, 1960 from 31,300 meters
goal of the project
The emergency exit with a parachute from a jet aircraft flying at several times the speed of sound from great heights was problematic and often life-threatening. The Excelsior project had set itself the goal of designing a parachute system that could also be used at an altitude of 30 kilometers and thus in the stratosphere , and to prove that parachute jumps are also possible from these heights.
Technical details
So that the forces acting on the pilot at a height of 30 kilometers during the emergency exit are not too great, he must not slow down his free fall for a long time, i.e. not open the parachute. During this period, the pilot can easily spin and rotate faster and faster around his own axis. Above 120 revolutions per minute one becomes unconscious, more than 200 revolutions per minute are fatal. A system made up of several parachutes was developed as a solution. First of all, a braking parachute would automatically open to stabilize the jumper. The main parachute only opens at an altitude of around 5,000 meters. The entire parachute system weighed 75 kilograms.
The ascent took place with a gas balloon filled with helium . However, the decision was made to use an open nacelle from which the pilot jumps instead of a closed capsule. Since the air is very thin at 30 kilometers and it is down to −70 ° C, the use of a pressure suit was imperative.
Excelsior I.
Joseph Kittinger's first test jump should be made from a height of 23,300 meters, since failure of the pressure suit is not yet life-threatening at this height. In addition, Kittinger had to breathe pure oxygen before the ascent so that the nitrogen would not form gas bubbles in his blood if there was a sudden loss of pressure ( decompression sickness ).
After a year and a half of preparation, Kittinger took off with the balloon in the early morning of November 16, 1959. Since he accidentally activated the automatic parachute too early, the braking parachute was released too early during the jump, so that it could not unfold correctly and Kittinger began to turn faster and faster around his axis until he finally passed out. However, since his main parachute unfolded automatically as intended and he regained consciousness in time, he landed unharmed.
Excelsior II
After the first test was almost fatal for Kittinger, on December 11, 1959, another test jump was made "only" from 22,800 meters. This jump was successful and set a new record for the longest free fall with 16,800 meters.
Excelsior III
On the morning of August 16, 1960, the planned jump from a height of more than 30 kilometers took place: Kittinger rose in the balloon to a height of 31,333 meters, from where he dropped to the ground from the open gondola. For this jump he wore - in addition to his unopened parachute and pressure suit - a helmet with radio and camera as well as a device for data recording. Kittinger fell for four minutes and 36 seconds before the main parachute opened at a height of around 5,500 meters. After another nine and a half minutes, it landed safely.
Whether he broke the sound barrier with this jump is controversial. In an article for National Geographic Magazine in December 1960, Kittinger reported:
“Although my stabilization parachute opens at 96,000 feet , I accelerate for another 6,000 feet and reach a top speed of 614 miles an hour, nine tenths of the speed of sound for mine Height."
In some later publications, however, there is talk of 714 mph (= 1,149 km / h) or reaching or exceeding the speed of sound, so also until at least July 2006 in Kittinger's official USAF biography and until January 2007 on the information page about the Excelsior project. In other more recent contributions, however, Kitterer's 1960 statements are confirmed by again reporting a speed “up to 614 miles per hour” and “approaching the speed of sound” or he “almost breaks the sound barrier when he briefly” Time reached 988 km / h. ” In his current USAF biography, the figure has been corrected to 614 mph after February 2005.
From the (undisputed) values of the jump height and the height of fall Kitterer can also calculate his theoretical final speed, which is accordingly 275 m / s = 990 km / h and thus below the assumed speed of sound of 1,003 km / h (at −80 ° C ).
With this company, Kittinger has set four world records: the highest balloon flight with an open gondola, the highest speed of a person without a special protective cover, the longest free fall during a parachute jump and the greatest drop height. The last-mentioned record was surpassed on November 1, 1962 by Yevgeny Andrejew , this again and the first two mentioned on October 14, 2012 by Felix Baumgartner . Kittinger still holds the record of the longest parachute jump (as of 2016).
Movie
The first space travelers. Documentation, 2007, 44 min.
Web links
- Joseph Kittinger at the USAF Museum
- The Speed of Sound (Video)
- Kittinger at centennial of flight
- Daniel Münter: "We were the first space travelers". Süddeutsche Zeitung, October 2, 2007, accessed on January 15, 2009 .
- Project Excelsior. (Video) Sonicbomb, 1960, accessed January 15, 2009 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission: Joseph Kittinger ( Memento of the original from March 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Joseph Kittinger: The Long, Loneley Leap . In: National Geographic . December 1960, p. 856
- ^ John L. Frisbee: The Longest Leap. (No longer available online.) In: Vol. 68, No. 6th Air Force Magazine, June 1985, archived from the original on April 6, 2009 ; accessed on January 15, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Kittinger biography of the USAF ( Memento from July 21, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Information page of the USAF Museum on the Excelsior project from January 22, 2007 ( Memento from January 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Hans Kettwig: The man who fell from heaven . In: GEO . July 2004, p. 54
- ^ Rob Bardua: Aviation pioneer to make special appearance at the National Museum of the US Air Force. (No longer available online.) In: Factsheet. National Museum of the US Air Force, archived from the original on December 25, 2010 ; accessed on September 10, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
