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PERRIS SKYVENTURE verticalwiDdtunel
is alrurricaDein acan- Inside the coreofa
cylindricalbuildirgthat looks like an air
traffic-control tower, air driv€Dby hugefans
whooshesupwa.rdat 100-plus milesper hou.
The tmDel probably istr'i the ialest building
in Perris,California-a sprawlof mals dd
tract homesa coupleof hous eastof LosAr-
geles-but it feelsljke it. Nearthe top, two
setsof doom open onto the colum of wind.
Customers walkihroughthe doors,leaninlo
the airastheyspreadtheir armsandlegs,od
arelified offtheir fe€t.ltb the sensaiionof
free fall wiihout ihe danger or nsh: skydiv
nrg with its balls reuoved.Il it's your first
vjsit,astaffpersonhelpssteadyyolrincase
you .Lift upward and puic or start bourirlg
off thelrallslikeanair-poppedkernel.
Today is leLh Bamgetn€r's first visit to
Skyveriur€,but no one willbe holdingon
to him. Aphotogenic4t year oldAusiian,
Bamgartner is a ligh-profile professional
stuntman and BASEjumper. A,4SEis an
acrorryn for "buildings, aDieDnae,spans
tmeaningbridgesl,and earth tcliffsll' and
Bamgartner hasparachuiedoff all of ihese
many times. You can go on YouTubeand
waich him jump off the outsir€ichedright
am ofthe enormousChriststaiuein tuo de
Imeiro or, more prosaic.Iy, the rcof of ihe
2o-story warsawMariott. For nost of his
stuDts,Bamgatner weds a skydiver'sjup
suit. ln the Marriott video,h€t dr€ssedin
businesscasual.He did this to passthrough
the hotel lobby without arousiDgsuspicjon,
but asyou watch him walk to ihe edgeof the
roof in his tie md .lressshirt, the impresion
you get is tbat jumpingoffbuildings is, for
Baumgariner,just oother day on the job.
THISEVENING FINDSBaugartner dressed
lik€ an astroDaut.He'sinPeds iraining for
his role in the RedBull SiratosMission,an
elaborate, expensive, and very risky proiect
sponsoredby the Austrian ene.gy-drink
company.The nission's aims are twofold
p{i record-breakjng athleijcieat,part seri-
ousscience.I'mherebecause l'm interested
in ihe aeromedicalres€arch sideof thtugs.
Duringthe Stratosjump,Baungartnerwil
test a rnoitified emergeDcyescapespacesuii
desigDed by the Massachuseits-based David
ClarkCompaDy,makersof protectivesuitsfor
t€st pilois dd asironauissincethe earlydays
of jet fljghi and spaceer"loration. Starting in
1986,when ih€ SpaceSluitr,e ChalbnEetex-
ploded7l secondsafterliftotr, astronautshave
beenrequiredtoweepressuiad,orTgen fed
suiis not only lrhile spacewelkingbui during
claustrophobic, and rcstrictive."There are
somehot spotson the shoulderl'hesays.He
meansplaceswhereihe suit is rubbiDg.
The techniciaNexchaDge gldnces-ihere
areD'isupposedio be aDyhot spots."But jt
laurc\ rcentry, dd lddnE- the most dan- doesn'tmaiterl' Baugarin€r says,adding
gerouspartsof a flight. Baurngannerwil wee thai the junp is only six mjnuieslong. He
tlrc test suit to siay aliveduiu a " spacedive" shrugs.l'll getusedto itl'
from 120,000feet or roughly2l ni1es. ofl
Thoughthat height 'rp, doe$'i ieclDiolly qual- BAUMCARTNER LEARNED aboutprecision
ify asspace-irue space,with lts almosi com skydiving ard aerobatjcson a special-forces
plete absenceof air, stans at domd 02 miles paracbuieieam in the Austrid militaiy from
up itb close.Atmospherjcpressureis less 1988to2002.A1996visit to BridgeDay,an
than a hudredth of what it is ai sealevel. dDuar BASE-jumpingeveDtin Westvirgnna,
The jump is slatedfor late summeror fall sparkedapassioDforihis dceedinglydan-
jn an undisclosedlocale most Ukelyin New geroussPort.The &{SE tatality List on Splat-
Merico that Red B'!l is treating like an ula.comis,asof lue 2010,ai 147deaths. I
atomic sec.et.Whereverand whenev€rit Totrjght\ scheduleincludesor yt5 Dinutes
happens,it wil provide eDgiDeers with hard- oi "mediatime with lelixl aDdlater access
to-come-by information about the behavior wasdeDiedby RedBull,so I can't tel you as Kit
of a falling body in a pressurizedsuit tu €x- much asI'd like aboutthe man iNide ihe suit.
trehely thin ajr,alongwith dataon the cac - ls BaumgartDer the egotjsiical,publicity
tions ofthat bodyto umsonic md supereod. ibirsty "siunt-monkey"ihat critics on the l9(
speeds.This js not information with everyday bloe BAsEjunp€r..on would baveyou be- rlt
practicalitr but someday if gov€rnneDt ljeve?lArnongother things, his detracto$ say
t!l
sponsoredspaceexploration takesoffin a big he falsely lays claim io the record ibr lowest
war as it would during a long ierm Ma6 BASEjump.) Or is he a talented,focused,
mission,or ifconnnercblspaceiourhm ever career-sawf athl€i€who irlspir€sjealoLrsy
becomescommonplace thefliDctioDalityof dd sou grapes?I sawno evidenceof the for
suchsuits co'nd savelives. merdu ng my (admittedly limited)time with
Becausethere'ssolitileairrcsistanceinihe him, thoughBauhgdtnefs web preseDce is,
atmosphere'suppd reaches,Bamgdiner js it nusi be said,fairly devoid of hmiliiy. The
orpeciedio r€acbthe speedof sound-aroud Ielir tsaungariner wikipedia page ikis his B
690 miles per hour rather ihan jusi the Dickrameas"Godoftheskiesl'
t
120-mphterminalvelocityof a skydiverat From a purely visDalstandpoini,godlifre
iowe. altitude. No onehaseverbailed out in a isD'i too far off target.Baumgadnerrcs€n rcf
spaceAighi€mergeDcy,drd jt isn't clearhow bles a grittier, tubochdged Mdk wahlberg.
best to do it safely.Baumgadner'splungewilt To quoteaDhdustrial-producispamphletI
help fill in the knowledgegaps. saw not long ago,he has very good blilk and
h
Baumgartnersayshe'sproudof the con- edgelin€tougirDess. He'sin the wind tunnel
tributions he'll be naknrg b safer space now,holding himself facedoM in th€ classic
travel,buthe'smainlyinterested jnbrcakjng free fallposition.He reachesaroundto his
rccods. The current skydiving aliitude rndk front to get a feel for the placementofihe
is l02,800feet.Ittoowassetbyamantesiing ripcord.(He can't se€ii, be.auseihe space
survjval gear,in his casea parachutesyst€m. sdt prevenislih from bendingor tuning his
In 1960,in a projeci caled Excelsior,U-5. An neck.)Nen he siraightens hislegs,assessnrg
ForcecaptainJoeKittinger steppedout of an the sdt's flexibilty This addssurfaceareafor
open top steelgondolacdried by a helium the wind io pushagainst,andheshootsup ien
balloonandskydived,inapariiallypressur- feei mdtheDsiops,hoveringabove a group
ized suit,19 milestoth€ ground.(Kjiijnger of onlookerslike a Macyt balloon. He dJops
is d adviseron the Skatosmission.) In tEn - doM again.Thenup, iheDdown,eachtime
scripts on file at the New Mexico Mus€u of siopping an inch or two shori of the webbing
SpaceHistory nr Almogordo, Kitiinger says that formsthe windtmel"'floorl'
lrc brokethe soundbarier, but hewasn't car Ii.d Bull stratosiechnicalprojectdirccior oN
rying the necessaiyneasunE equipneni i. Arl T|ompsoncinges.Bamgdinerk chesi
makethe recordofficjal.ThusBaumgartD.r F..i .cntajns aDdray of deli.ate medical in-
will probablyalsoentertherecordbooksrs st n' Jr. Laiion."Feli1!"Thompsonbdks into
' ing
the lirst human to redchsupersonicspeed his 'rolthpiece."waich the .hestpack!"
wjthout beinginside a jet or spacecraJi. To g€i h position for ihe jump, Baugdt T
For now, Baurng&tDerjs sluhped in a low ne. will ascendin a custom desigDed, pres-
chlir, sippingwaterduringamuch need€d suized capsule suspeDd€d b€lowa huge 30
break.Todayis ihe first inne heb worn the hillion cubicfeet helimbal]oon. (See"THs glas
suit in wnrd-tunneltesting.He lookssweaty way DoMl' page65.) ODcelrejumpsout, his
aDduDdelighted.Pressuresuits are heavy, biggesiproblemwillbecontrollinghisbody's
position duing fiee falt, dE to the lack of air
molec'nestu ihe upper atmospbere.
To get a senseof the problem,imagine
holding you hmd in the rushing at outsidea
cd Mndow By anglingyou hdd io present
more or lesssuface to ihe wind, you co feel
obviousshjfts in direction md pressue. If the
carweretrareling 23miles up, you'd feetnone
of thai. without air to apply couterforce, it\
harder for skydive$ io stop a spin, and a
poorlydesignedsuit would makethe situa-
tion worse.Bamgartner wil needto free-fall
for about 30 secondsbefore he gainsenough
speedio generatetbe wind force rceded to
controlhis positioD-or to benefitfrom the
emergencystabilization chute herucdry.
The dangersof spiDningv'ere explaiDedto
me by retiredAir loice coloneland master
parachutisiDanFulghar!.Iulgham was]oe
Kittinger's backupbeforethe recod seiting
&celsior junp od is a veierm escape-sr€tem
testerfor the Ai! Forceand NASA.Duringa
196l test ofthe ejectionsystemfor a high-
altitude jet called ihe X-20 Dyna Soar,
Fulghm went into a flat, turntable spin and
expedencedcenirifugal forces so strong
that he coutdn't hold his armsio his chest

"It waslike I{as encasediD ironl'he said

in a telephone inteniew. His chute opened

rgartner'sWikiDediaDagelistshis nicknameas eds or noses-ihe teststueledlong-standing

rumorsihat the military wassecretlyrecover
dof thee skieSli ue ruuKs
pQ ,, r1e lo.o!-s
qellv.godlike inperson,
pret Ly P,O(lllKelll person, ing th€ bodiesofalieDswho hadcrashedin the
56'ctrareea vaik waliters. Toqu.ore scrublandsoutsideRoswel,New Mexico.
En rts pa$phlet
industrial-prodr:pfs
pqqrphlet sawnot long
I saw loig ago,
ago.he ghm On one occasion,the alienwas Do lul-
himself.Iulghu od Kittinger crashed
nas Vefy $OOd bUIk andedgelinetouglineis. one Satudaymorning in ls59 whenihejr bal-
loon cdne down in a field otr the outskirts of
automatically,but he still cme closeto dying. slower,more controlable tbree-dimensional Roswell.The 800-pound gondolahadbeen
Sensorsclockedhim spinning at 163revohL spnal. lf that doesn'twork during Baum- releasedtoo earlyand begu io tmble, com-
tions per mtuuie. rrweran somemonleys on gartner'sjup, the forcesofthe spin wil trig ing to a stop on lulgham's head.When he
tlrccentritugeatWright Pat, whereihe force ger the rcleaseof a stabiliziDg chute caled a took offhis heinei, his entire headswelledso
was outwdd on the head ai about r45 rpnl' alrogue.The choguewil plm his headupnghl severelythat Kittingerdescribedhis faceas
he said,refening to ihe ftighi-Patterson keephim iiorn spinnjng into a red out sce- "just a big blobl' Fulghamwas taten to the
AeroMedical LaboEtory, in Ohio. "The brain ndio, dd, one hopes,savehis rife. (Unlessit hospital at WalkerAir ForceBase,jn Roswell,
compressedenoughinio the top of the skull deplqs Femaiuely, winds aroud his neck, whjch was staffed nr pdt by civilios. I asked
that it separatedfrom the spinalcord.That ed chokeshim untii hepassesotrt, asJoeKit- him iJhe recallspeoplepointing md staring.
should havehappenedto mel' He also corld tinger's did in o Excelsior dress-rehedsal "I don't knowl'he said,"becausetheonly
luve died from "red ouil'wherein bloodis jump from 76,400 feet. Kittinger's main wy I could seewas to put my fingers up and
spm into the bnin with enoughforceio rup- chute,triggeredbyd altimet€r,openedauto
Art Thompsonthjnks the dummyreslrlts
Thereis no My, doM on edth, to simulate weremisleadingandthai high-altitude spin-
ONETHINCBAUMCARTNER MdthE S1TAIOSfiee fal in a ned va.trm. The Air Force,in the ning is unlikely to be a serious coDcen for
telm will chect out todayis whetherihe space 195osdd '60s, to try it by ftoppingan- Bamgariner I brought up Fulgham'sn€ar-
suit will allow him to get inio Foper "track- 'rsed
thropomorphicdmies oui of high-aliitude lethai spin and Kiitingers drogue-chuie
ng" postuie: aDgleddoMwdd wjth his tu"rns baloons. The resultswereworisome: lots of prcblem.Thohpson pointedoui that, back
exiendedfrom his sidesin a V Hgh-speedspiming md iurbling. On a side then, peopledjaln't skydivefor sport the way
The mechanicsare explainedio me by Dote,civiLids would sometimesbe passing they do now. "They weren't usedio ilrc ider
Ari Thompson,who is overseeing tonight's through the drop zone aDdlrcad ov€r to see ofconiroling bodyposition in flightj'he said.
tests. Thompsonusesa pair of folded rcading what was going on- Becauseihe project was "There'sbeensomuchadvancemenil'
glassesto demoNtrate. By shiftjng the center operatedin secrecyand the rccoveryteams Bui astronautsaren't skydive$. And while
ofrctatioD, the proper trackjng position cotr- behavedin a futiv€, scuryingmanner ad Baumgartnerwill begnrhjs descentat zero
verts a ijghi, level,tuntable spnrirto a larget becausethe dmies hadftrsedfingersdd no miles per hou, jmping from a balooD thatl
drifthg on air curents, a pelsot1ejecting lerel Fotecied him from the friction heat- likened them to the bow wves behlnd a
from a spacecraftduring reenhy vould be ing and windblast that wot d, at lower alti water-skier'sboat.At the placeswherethe
iravelingin the neighboftood of 12,000mph. tud€s, hddiv km a personmoving thai fast shoct waves interseci, the forces come to-
li's not a neighborhoodyou'd want to spend (wea!€r briefly blackedoui, but his chuie de getherviih savage,oiherwoddly intensity.
ployed automaticaly at l5,0OOfeei.) Colun- "lt basically fragnented them," Clark
bia wastEveling at Ddly Mach 17,but" giwn said."But not everyone.It wasvery location-
IONATHANCLARK,THERtrDBULLSITAIOS the negiigibledeDsiiyofih€ atmosphereai 40 specific. we had tbings thai i{ere recovered
MissioD medical dilector, is w€ll qudlified for miles up, the windblast was about ihe equiv_ completelyintactl'One sedchervho combed
his post. Clarkwasa high-arttude_parachute alent of a400 mph blast at sealevel lt pre- theColunbid's400 mile debrispath in Texas
specialistworking with the U.S.tlilitary's seDtedwhat Ari Thompson describes as a found atonometer,adevicethat measures
specialoperaiions.He'sbeena flight surgeon manageablerisk. "It's suwivable,"said Cldk. intraocular presue. "It workedl'
for NASA SpaceShuttlecrews,aDdhe was But the Cofunbio astronautsfacedcrueler Fo
ihreais tho windblast and thermal buns. pRoTEcTINGPEoPLE in theseconditionsis
involved in the iN€siiSation of the collift
bid, which disiniegratedoverTexasduring "we had somevery unusuarnljuy patterns a complicatedchalenge.Any spacecratt
rcenky in February2003,killing all seven that werenot explatuableby anythtugthat escapesystemworkswiih alimited range 13
asiroDauis onbodd. Clark'stemetamined we de accustomedtol'Ckrk said.(By"we" he of altitude and speed.Eieciion seats,for in-
ihe autopsyreports to determineat what meart flight sugeons: peopleaccustom€dto stance,work for ihe first eight to ten seconds
point the astromuis pe shed and how, and brainsspunoff their stemsudlimbs sDapped of launch,beforeQforce -the interplay of air
whether m)'thing cor d have been done to by windblasi.) "We know how people break density and speed-generated wind folce-
aparti' Cldk continued."They breakon joint builds io a lethal level.An eieciionsystem a tj
Cldk isn'i vith us in Penis. I met him more linesl' Like chjck€n.r,ike anlhing
than a yeal ago,up on Canada'sDwon Isldd, with bones. "But this wasn't like
in tlrc high Arctic, wherc NASA Pe orms thai. lt Ms like they werese!€red, t8 (
luarandMartiane:?edriionsimrationsaia bui ii wasn'i iiom somesiructure

A windblagofzsorqphwill blow an Oxygen

mask off vour face. et aoomph,it #illre-
moveahelmet- asit did to onepiiot whosevisorwas
blowr:openandactedlike-a,sail,qnSppipghis hegd
hissuitand breaKrngmS necK.
backagainst
sitecaled the HMP ResedchStatioD. Clarl
showedme a PowerPoiniaboutthe tectmolo_
giesihat air forcesdd spaceagenciesand,
lately,private companieshaw come up with
to keepfliers andasironautsalivewhenihings
gowong. It alsoco\,€redthe things that hap_
lenwhenthoseiechnologiesfail or,asClark
put ii, "a]I the things ihat cd kill l,?l'
We sat at his desk in the medical tent. No
one elsems arolnd. A wind turbine outside
madeahaurted, drcning somd Atonepoint,
without conuneDt,Clel handedme o STS-
lo7 nussionpatch,like the onecolurnnia'sas
tronautshad{orn. It seemedlike a goodtime
to askabouthisworkonthei €stiEaiion.
I tnew fron reading a goverment docu-
meni cal]edthe "Colunbid CrN SurvivalID-
vestigationReport"that the astronautsdidn'i
hav€thet visors doM when the crew com_
pa ment lost pressure.I wonderedif they
might have suwived had their suits been
pressurized and they'dbeenequippedwith
se]J-deployingpdachutes.
The closestthing to aprecedentwas the
crashof t€st pilot Bill weaver.on Jduary 25,
1966,Weaversurvivedwhenhis SR-7rBhck-
bird broke up dound him whne tmveling at
Mach1.2-more ihanthree timesihe sPeed
of sound. His pressuresuii and the fact
that he wasflynrgat 78,000 feet,wherethe
ai is about 2 perceni 6 denseasthe air at sea
cutting them up. And it couldn't
have been a blast injury, because
yotr haveto haved aLnosphereio
As he talked, I waslooking at the
Coiuf,bid patch. The seven crew
members'lastlrmes werestitched
on the perimeteriMccooL RAMoNANDER-
SONHUSBAND BROWNCLARKCHAWLA.
Cldk. Someibibgclickedin my head:When
I firsi arrived on Devonlsldd, l'd heardthai
the spouseof one of the Columblaasbonauts
nouldbe here.JonathanCldk, I now realized,
was the husbdd of astronaut Lauel Clark,
who'd died. I didn't know whether to say
sonething, or wlut that someilitrg shouldbe.
The momeni passed,md Cldk kepi taling.
The aimosphereat 40 miles up is too thin
for blast wa\€s btrt not for shockwaves.The
teamconchded, mostly though a processof
elimination,ttEi it wd shockwavestint hlled
the colmbid astronauts.clark explainedihai
iD high-speed brealGps, like ihose abo\€
Mach 5 five times the speedof somd, or
about 3,400 mph an obscue phenomenon
caled shock-shockinteEction is thought to
comeinto ptay.When a reeDieringspacecralt
breaksapart, hunaLedsof pieces-none with
the caretuIy planned aerodyDamicsof the
intact craft - de flying at h]"€rsonic sPeeds,
creatinga chaotic w€b of shockwaves.Cldk
needsto quickly blast the astronautslar
enough asay io keep ihem fron smashing
into the craft's appendagesor getting caDght
in the firebal of a catastrophjcexp]osion
To swive the exir€me speedand heat of
rcentry is moreproblematicstiL Roscosmos,
ihe Russianspaceagenct has tested proto
tlpes of m iniatablecrew-escapepod called
a banub (an amalgd of bdlloon and pal@-
ch1!te)-Heat shielding on the broad forward
faceof the pod is desigredto protect the ter-
rified occupanis, and th€ lege surface area
createsthe dragneededto slowthe pod io a
speedat which a mdiisiage parachutesysiem
could, jJ aI goesrell, lower it safelyto earth.
But sucha systemhasneverllown all the way
from spac€to the ground,evenin tests.
Alternaijvely, a peachuie colrld tower an
entire capsuleor crew cabin to the ground.
(NASA'Snew Orion capsulenay be usedini-
tialy as an escapepod for the InternatioDal
SpaceStation.) The chutewolndbeheary and
cosuyto launch- dd in ibe caseof tlrc Space
Shuttle, ihe processof separatingthe crew I
It1
 compartmentfromtbe restofthe craftpre-
sentsseriousteclrnicdchallenges.
while wele at ii, whatabouta moreobvi-
ous customerbaseiai.plarc passengersl Is
ark there a way to bail out salely from a jet that\
abouitocrash?why, otbe.thanthe weight
andexpeDse, don'i airlinesoutfit everyseat
witb a poriableoxygens'rpplyand a seat-
backparachuie?For many r€asols,but the
ronr on€sinvolve windblast aDdh,?oxia.
At the halfway point of the Beadort Wind
ForceScal€,air tEvels at lI mph.,,Umbrella
usebecomesdjfficultI' siatesthe Beaufort,a
tad overdramatically. lte scaletops oui at
7l+, the siarting ponlt for hurricaneforc€
winds that ce reach190. That's about all the
blow Daturecan nust€L wherc the BeauJo
leavesoffis wherewjndblaststudiesbegin.
Wnrdbiastis!'t weather.The air isn,t rushirg
at rou; tou'rc rufihg at it - havingbailedoui
or ejeciedfrom animperiled craft.
Atthespeedofmostprivateploes lltto
180mph ure efi€cts ofwindblast ar€mainly
cosmet'c.Thecheeks de pressed flat against
ihe skul, bestowing a taut, faceLiftedappeaF
mce. I know this both frornhideousphoto
graphs of me in ihe Skyvenhrc wiDd tunei
and frorn a 19,19Ariotion Medi.ire pape. on
th€ eifectsof high-velo.itywindblast.In ihe
ilide of]20,00O feei, nE icrc lfetf,her
the suh or thetapsule hits to prssortre.
bubblescouldtom h 8a!figartneas
)ing bl@d,dlsing hls lunssto hemorrh:€e.
rght
Some23 ml esup, Baumgartnerop€ns
the doorof h s capsLe andcarefuyarcs
into a headnr$ fiee fal rHEnEk: At th s
attude,thearisn'tthlcke.oLghfor
Baumgartnerto makeinjli8ht coiiec
LIed tions to pr€ventspin. ng,and the only
plac€for bloodto escapethe intens€
G-ftces would be olt my eyesl he uys
With.35 secon.ls,atarolnd100,000
f€et he reachthesoundbarer.690
h esp€rrrolao. the wayto Machr 2
frERrskBaumgart.elsheadandshoul
dersw beatslpersonicspe€dforasp t
s€cond.whle hisbodyisslbsonicshock
wavescould t€ra ! br€akhimapart.
a5 Balhgadner€ntersde.serai
heI slowtoaound160mpha.d ope.
hlschlteafterafve minurefteefal
ini- GEHyPET twouldntbe a RedBu
stunt iiitwerent brcdcast liveon
TV (channeliBD)andontheW€b
Iilrslrdlion irj,McKibillo
lattena ndr identjfiedasJ.1.,hddsomeat
zerohph, appeanin a 27t-mph windblast
with his lips blown agape,gums iD full view
like ar agitaied,braying coEl.
At 150mph, the cartilageofthe nos€de-
foms md the skin of the facestdis io fiutter.
"The wa!€sbeginat the corDersof thenouthi,
the Aridfion Media e pape.e4lails, ,,and
progressacrossthe faceat the rate of about
l0O per secondto the €ar,wherethey breal<,
causingiheeario wavel'Atfster speeds, this
Q force causesdeformaiionsthat can, as
Ariotion Medi.inegingerlyphrasesii, ,,exceed
the strengthof iissuel'
Cruising spe€dfor a hanscoDtin€ntaljet is
between t00 and600 mph.Ai ihat speed, you
cannoi bail out. irfaialjtyj' to quote Dar Ful-
ghm, "is preity muchindicatedl'A windblast
oi 2t0 mph wil blow e oxygenmast off your
face.At 400 nph, windblasiwili rehove a
trelm€i-as it did to Bill weaver,sSR 71co-
piloi. His visor was blown openand acted
iike a sail, snappjnghis headback againstthe
D€ckriDgof his suit dd breakinghis neck.At
500 mph, ',ramair" blastsdoM yourvind-
pipedih enoughforceto rupture elemenisof
yorr purmondysr€tem.A 1957pap€rby ihe
hteAn rorcecolonelIoiD PaolStapp apio
neeringer"ert oDsurvivalduing hjglr -speed
\
bailotrts- mentions a casestudy fiom o avi-
aiion-industry interim repori whereiDan
drme €jectedai noie than 600 mph. The
windblast inflated Ns stomachlike a pool toy.
In this uusual instance,it lrelpedthe md
survive when he hit waier. ,,The estimated
ihreeliier of air in ihe siomachl'Siappwote,
'tubstiitrted for flotation gear which he was
in no conditioDto inflatel'
AT SUfERSONIC SpE.DS,yourbodywould
faceihekindsof Qforcesthaiusedto shak€
jets io pieces.Iulghah has seenauiopsies
ofpilotswhoejectedat600 plus.,,Ejeciion
seatsback then had meial wings on ea.h
side of ihe head io keep it from flopping
aroudl' hesajd.irwhenihey did autopsies,
they foundthe brainshadjust beenemulsi-
fied becauseof the trenendousvibrationof
the headbeiweenihosest€elplatesl,
That is why, wheneverth€y can,fighter pi,
lots staywith a crippledjet until they cd slow
it down,reducingihe Qload. On this scole,
RedBUI hasamplecauseio be n€!rcls about
Felix Baumg&tner. He could be vibraied to
deathiDsidehis suit ashe approachesor su
passes the speedofsoud.
As this storywent topress,BaumgartDer
had beendoing test junps from helicopters,
ard he'dalreadysulived one closecall.On
March2l ofthis year,unableto seethevd,
ious handleson the front ofhis spacesuit
becauseofl1jslimiied mobility,he cut away
the wrong chute. He jettisonedhis main
chuteinsteadof his dro$restabnizingchute.
He did hav€a resenechuie,but he couldn't
teli, by feel,the differencebetw€enits de-
ploymert and cuiawayhaDdl€s. (Thehan-
dles havesincebeenmodjfied.) Baugdtner
beganio tug ai ihe cutawayhandle,which,
had it activated,would haveleft him withoui
ForiuDaielnthe releasewasriggedsothat
it wouldnot activatein thoseconditions.As
dsky as skydiving f.om extremely high alti-
tude is, it's stil probabiyno riskier than
Baumgartnerkoiher occupatioD-jumping
trom €xkemelylow aitjtude. If something
startsto go wrong duringa spacedjve,you
havesix mjnutes to figure otrt how io rcmedy
it. On a BASEjMp, you barely havesix sec-
onds md no reservechute.
lr you askBaugdiner how he feelsaboui
the possibiliiy of someihiDggoingierribly
wrong,he'll giveyouthesiandarddaredevil
shrug:"I codddie in my sleepl,Art Thomp
soDisD'twonjed abouihim.,,He\ gonnabe
fine,"he told me in Penis.Let\ hopeso. o
MARYROACH'S NEWBOOK.FACKING FOR
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THEYOID FRO[/WHICHTHISARTICLE
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'r .,i outdile 65