Space Dive Page #4

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I was interested in getting escape

systems for pilots and astronauts.

I never get tired of watching

the footage.

It's incredible. I don't either.

It's just incredible.

Oh, you know,

it was the most significant thing

to happen in my life,

that parachute jump was.

It's just as vivid in my mind today

as it was the day I did it.

On 16th August 1960,

Joe left earth on a mission

to see if a pilot could survive

an emergency bailout

from the edge of space.

His every word

was recorded for research.

What I have here really

is a transcript

and this is what I said.

I said,

"Overhead it's black, probably

because of the polarization.

"Beneath me I can see the clouds.

Quite fantastic."

The balloon carried Joe

19 miles above the earth.

It's just a beautiful,

beautiful setting.

But then all of a sudden you realise

that it's hostile. VERY hostile.

As he was preparing to jump,

Joe made a terrifying discovery...

..he had a hole

in one of his gloves.

My hand started swelling

twice it's normal size.

I was really distressed.

I thought, "Well, if I tell

the ground that I have this problem,

"they're going to make me abort."

But I was there as a test pilot,

and my job now was to jump.

I took a deep breath...

I stood up, moved to the door...

I said "Lord, take care of me now."

"Awfully bright. Cold in my legs.

"Can't get my breath."

Joe ignored the pain in his hand

and recorded everything

he could feel and see as he fell.

I said, "Gosh, I'm not

accelerating very fast,"

cos you have nothing

to define speed.

There's no signposts going by,

there's nothing visual at all.

In fact, Joe was falling at 614 mph,

just short of the speed of sound.

"70,000. Beautiful.

"Hit it in 35 secs.

"60,000. 50,000."

The further I fell,

the happier I got,

because I knew I was going back down

to a safer environment.

And that's a nice thought.

At 18,000 feet, after a

four-and-a-half minute freefall,

Joe's chute opened.

"Oh, gee, that sure feels good,

that cold air.

"Ah, boy. Thank you, God, thank you.

"Thank you for protecting me during

that long descent. Thank you, God."

Joe's injured hand

eventually healed.

The data from his freefall helped

develop a parachute escape system

used by high-altitude pilots.

Now, Joe has to train Felix

to do what he did,

only faster and further.

It was the highlight of my life.

Until I have to beat

Felix's new record.

And I know how to do it now,

cos they've got all the equipment.

I don't know if Felix told you,

but I'm his backup.

If he breaks his leg or something

I'm going to be his backup

for the jump.

It's not commonly known,

but, uh, that's the agreement

that Felix and I have.

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