Roswell: An Austrian skydiver is all set to accomplish an extraordinary feat on Tuesday when he will make a 23 mile dive from the edge of space, being the first person to break the sound barrier outside of an airplane.
Felix Baumgartner, a 43 year old military parachutist has earlier made more than 2,500 jumps from planes, helicopters, landmarks and skyscrapers and has been gearing up for this landmark feat since last five years.
Baumgartner is scheduled to be lifted into the stratosphere around 7 am MDT by a helium balloon that will stretch 55 stories high. Once he reaches the planned altitude, that is at 120, 000ft, he will make a dive which would accelerate him at 690mph (1,110km/h) within 40 seconds, as per the calculations done by his team.
Baumgartner’s attempt to accomplish the highest, fastest free fall ever is fraught with many risks but if all goes well, it would provide very significant pieces of information for next-generation spacesuits and techniques that could help astronauts survive accidents.
The current free-fall record stands at 19.5 miles high, which was made by Joe Kittinger in 1960 when he jumped from an open gondola 100,000 ft high at the speed of 614 mph.
And hence, the spacesuits, so far, are certified to protect astronauts till 100,000 feet height.
But Felix Baumgartner’s mission if goes successful, might pave the way for next generation space suits that could protect astronauts even at a whopping height of 120,000ft.
Baumgartner’s attempt has been made possibly by a special pressurized space suit that is expected to protect him but a rip could expose him to a lack of oxygen and temperatures as low as minus 70 degrees. It could cause potentially lethal bubbles to form in his bodily fluids, a condition known as "boiling blood."
There are also risks he could spin out of control, causing other risky problems.
Baumgartner’s medical director Dr. Jonathan Clark, a NASA space shuttle crew surgeon who lost his wife, Laurel Clark, in the 2003 Columbia accident, says no one knows what happens to a body when it breaks the sound barrier.
"That is really the scientific essence of this mission," said Clark, who is dedicated to improving astronauts' chances of survival in a high-altitude disaster.
Clark told reporters Monday he expects Baumgartner's pressurized spacesuit to protect him. If all goes well and he survives the death-defying jump, NASA could certify a new generation of spacesuits for protecting astronauts, and provide an escape option, from spacecraft at 120,000 feet.
But whether Baumgartner, a 43-year-old Austrian military parachutist and extreme athlete, can attempt the jump depends on New Mexico's often unpredictable weather.
After 25 years of skydiving, Baumgartner promises this jump will be his last.
"If something goes wrong, the only thing that might help you is God," says Baumgartner as quoted by the BBC.
"Because if you run out of luck, if you run out of skills, there is nothing left and you have to really hope he is not going to let you down”, added the stalwart skydiver.
With Agency Inputs
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