“Three minutes till jump, Joe.”
I was ready to go, for more reasons than one. For about an hour—as the balloon rose from 50,000 to 102,800 feet above sea level—I had been exposed to an environment requiring the protection of a pressure suit and helmet, and the fear of their failure had always been present. If either should break, unconsciousness would come in 10 or 12 seconds, and death within two minutes.
In our altitude-chamber flights at the laboratory, I always [...]
“Lord, take care of me now,” I pray, then take the big step-off that begins my return from the edge of space, a 13-minute, 45-second plunge to an earth wrapped in clouds. The lanyard attached to my parachute pack is my last link with the gondola. It starts a timer on a small stabilization chute that will open 16 seconds later and prevent horizontal spinning. Without stabilization, man could not survive a jump from these high altitudes.
A National Geographic camera mounted above the gondola took this remarkable photograph at 102,800 feet.
MS Ektachrome National Geographic Society
Transcription of Fig. 39
Loss of MR Equipment
WCUSS-22WCRDB-4 19Jan 56
ATTN: Mr. R.L. Mason Lt. Nielsen/1bc
Ext. 2-4194/B.33