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North Hollywood, California – November 21, 2007 – It’s one thing to parachute out of an airplane. But extreme-sports enthusiasts may soon be able to take their thrills to a new level — literally, that is — and skydive from space.
Knowing that some people won’t be satisfied with once-in-a-lifetime trips into space, Rick Tumlinson and others have started new companies called Space Diver to develop and promote the sport, and Orbital Outfitters, to design, manufacture and lease spacesuits.
New Scientist magazine reported that the space-suited diver would ride on a platform atop the rocket into space, and then push away to begin the descent. The diver would freefall until about a mile above the surface, and then deploy a parachute for a softer landing.
Space Diver plans to begin low-altitude tests with rocket deployments next year. First, the team will drop dummies, and then tests will begin with people, who will make the first-ever jumps from a rocket starting at about 10,000 feet. If everything works as planned, paying customers might be able to start their descent from space as early as 2009.
According to the Daily Mail, one of the driving forces behind the project is Jonathan Clark, a military parachutist and NASA medic whose wife, Laurel, was killed in the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster in 2003.
For him, the project is less about creating a new extreme sport than advancing the cause of astronaut safety. So far, about 460 people have left the Earth's atmosphere, and of those, 22 have been killed either during the flight or in tests.
Clark says developing the ultimate skydive will be “a means of providing options for folks in these risky environments.”
The whole idea is not as far-fetched as you think. In 1960, U.S. Air Force pilot Capt. Joseph Kittinger jumped from 20 miles above earth, and in a few seconds reached speeds of 714 mph. After four minutes and 36 seconds he opened his main chute at an altitude of 17,500 feet and drifted gently down to the New Mexico desert where he safely landed only 13 minutes and 45 seconds after jumping.
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An artist rendition of the potential suit that would be worn to survive the lack of atmosphere and extreme altitude while free falling from space.
On August 16, 1960, Capt. Joe Kittinger leaps out of a balloon gondola 20 miles above earth, and (right) after 13 minutes 45 seconds, lands safely in New Mexico.
For More Information
Orbital Outfitters
Popular Science Magazine
Capt. Joe Kittinger
The Big Jump
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