Outer space is actually very close to us - just fly up 62 miles, and you will find yourself there. But at the edge of the atmospheric boundary there is a zone of great risk: lack of oxygen, high radiation and unpredictable weather conditions. These are all the moments that aeronauts encounter when examining the highest level of height.
“Space People” (“Space Men”) is a new PBS documentary (premiered on March 1 at 9 pm on EST), telling about this zone, studied in detail during balloon flights, manned by man during the 1950s and 1960 -y's History sometimes forgets about these people, despite the fact that they are engaged in the study of high boundaries for many years before the astronauts of the first program of NASA Mercury put on a spacesuit. (For comparison, the first manned flight into space occurred in 1962). And for those who watched Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic high-altitude jump in 2012, the balloon is one of the types of research that is replete with dramatic events in the scientific world.
Kittinger sits in a capsule before climbing into the stratosphere during the Manhigh project. June 1957
“This is a kind of“ Wild West ”and what they do is certainly impressive. After all, they invade previously unknown territory, ”said Amanda Pollack, a writer, director and producer of a documentary in an interview with Discovery News. She stressed that science was in the center of attention, but added: “I think that at that moment in time, many norms had not yet been established, because no one knew that they needed to be laid.” Film director Pollack was a newcomer to the space field when she began a year of research into the subject of aeronautics, although she had already managed to create many other documentaries on American history, ranging from the Panama Canal to 1962. Her first introduction to this topic came after reading Craig Ryan’s book, The Forerunners of Astronauts. Fortunately, for Pollack, one of the participants was still alive. It was Joe Kittinger, who is perhaps best known for his high leap, 50 years before Baumgartner.
“Kittiger really breathed life into the story,” said Pollak, “and having someone who was there and could not only share her own stories, but also tell other people and that their influence on subsequent events is an indisputable fact.” .
The documentary Pollack traces the history of aeronautics from the early flights of John Stapp of the Air Force, whose work was so risky that he was the first to be called to be his subject. He tested oxygen systems in unsealed aircraft at an altitude of 40,000 feet. Later, he became famous as the “fastest man on earth” because he would tie himself with straps to a rocket sled to measure which extreme deceleration and acceleration is attached to his body. He survived with broken ribs, temporary blindness and other injuries. But at the same time I felt that I had to do my job, so necessary for science. Movie trailer for Space Men:
Most of the documentary covers three flights from the Manhigh project, aimed at capturing how people and balloon systems behave at high altitudes. The then record was set at an altitude of 101,516 feet by David Simons in 1957. But Symons is remarkable not only because of this, but also for research. He was an officer in an Air Force project who was testing animals for V-2 rocket flights, and later managed a project of 60 unmanned balloon flights in difficult stratospheric conditions.
The documentary also briefly mentions the Excelsior project, in which Kittinger jumped at 102,800 feet in 1960. This record lasted for 52 years, until Baumgartner successfully jumped from a height of 127,851 feet in 2012.
“This jump is dramatic, and very connected to the Manhigh project, because it literally is now jumping into this incredibly hostile environment,” Pollak said. “Without work on Manhigh, they would never have done it.”
