The Leap From Outer Space

Your latest project is called Red Bull Stratos – Mission to the Edge of Space. What’s it all about?

The biggest mountains have already been climbed. The Atlantic has already been crossed. Man has landed on the moon. But no man has broken the speed of sound on his own. That’s what I want to do. If I can do that, I’ll also do the highest manned balloon trip, the longest freefall, the fastest freefall and the highest jump in the world.

And what are the project’s basic details?

In a capsule attached to a helium balloon, I will ascend to a height of around 36km (22.5 miles), at which point I will leave the capsule and accelerate in freefall to a speed of 1300kph (808mph). I’ll be wearing a spacesuit. Doing this will mean breaking the sound barrier.

So you’re trying to break records held by US Air Force officer Joseph Kittinger, which he set over New Mexico on August 16, 1960?

Yes. Kittinger climbed to 31,322m in his helium balloon, and then jumped out of the gondola. He was in freefall for four minutes and 36 seconds, and almost reached the speed of sound when he was clocked at 988kph (614mph; the speed of sound is 1236kph [768mph]). I want to break these records.

When did you first think about surpassing Kittinger’s record?

The project has been on my desk four times in one form or another. In 2004, an Austrian balloonist suggested taking up a gas balloon to 50km (30 miles) and jumping. The second time I thought about it was when a company I didn’t know suggested it to me, but that didn’t pan out either. Then I was approached by a former colleague of Richard Branson – a man who has set a whole host of ballooning records. We sat down and went through the logistics, but we didn’t click.

And so what happened next?

I decided to take matters into my own hands. After painstaking research, I got a team together with enough expertise in aviation and suit technology for us to make an attempt at the records.

Who’s in your team?

Art Thompson, an aviation expert who, among other things, helped develop the famous Stealth Bomber. I’m also working with the David Clark Company, which is making my suit and is one of NASA’s most important suppliers. Then there’s Joseph Kittinger, the current record-holder. And Red Bull, of course. Without Red Bull, I’d never have been able to get my projects off the ground.

What is it you are expecting to get out of Red Bull Stratos?

We will provide a huge amount of data that will allow analysis of what happens when extreme pressure is applied to the human body. After all, ?no one has yet gone faster than the speed of sound without a machine powering them.

For the full interview download the February edition of The Red Bulletin from Tuesday 2nd Feb.