A special suit from the Frederica, Del. company was used this week by the Alan Eustace in the dive from a high-altitude balloon at 135,000 feet. The flight was led by Tucson, Ariz.-based Paragon Space Development Corp. The dive took place near Roswell, N.M.
Eustace broke several records, including national record for highest exit altitude; world and national record for free fall under a drogue chute; national record for vertical speed. Additionally, he became the second person to break the sound barrier outside an aircraft.
Eustace was lifted to his peak altitude by a helium-filled scientific balloon while wearing the custom-made pressurized ILC Dover spacesuit. He remained in free fall for about 4.5 minutes before landing safely nearly 70 miles from his launch point.
The balloon, spacesuit and accompanying support systems were developed by Paragon and its StratEx technical team, comprised of ILC Dover and other companies.
“I always wondered: what if you could design a system that would allow humans to explore the stratosphere as easily and safely as they do the ocean? With the help of the world-class StratEx team, I hope we’ve encouraged others to explore this part of the world about which we still know so little,” said Eustace.
A StratEx team goal was to develop a self-contained spacesuit system that allows for manned exploration of the stratosphere above 100,000 feet. Such a system has a range of applications in stratospheric science, development of spaceship crew escape and the study of aerodynamics above Mach 1.
Grant Anderson, President and CEO and co-founder of Paragon, said, “The experience and dedication of the StratEx team was crucial to the program’s success. Together, Alan and the team today extended human spaceflight to the stratosphere in an important step to solidify the safety of future human endeavors. It is an honor to work with such an incredibly talented and accomplished group. This has opened up endless possibilities for humans to explore previously seldom visited parts of our stratosphere.”
As part of the project, ILC’s role included pressure suit manufacture and testing, suit operation and maintenance, and flight test support. In order to decrease oxygen consumption and reduce overall system weight, the pressure suit was engineered to have minimal leakage at a higher pressure than any other operational U.S. spacesuit. In addition, the design provides long-duration wear, mobility, thermal protection and aerodynamic integration with the life support and parachute systems, according to a release announcing the dive.
