A French Daredevil Hopes to Live to Tell Tale of 25-Mile Jump
Since 1988, Michel Fournier
Has Strived to Parachute
From Edge of Outer Space
BENDEJUN, France -- No human being has fallen farther than Joe Kittinger, but people keep trying.
On Aug. 16, 1960, the U.S. Air Force test pilot floated in his 20-story-tall helium balloon to the edge of space, more than 19 miles up, higher than any man had ever gone. Clad in a space suit, he stood at the edge of his open-air gondola and said to himself: "Lord, take care of me now." Then he jumped.
He quickly accelerated to 714 miles an hour -- becoming the first person to break the sound barrier without a vehicle -- before a small parachute opened to stabilize his fall. Four minutes later, a bigger parachute opened, and soon after that he was safely back on Earth. His historic jump showed that, if necessary, future pilots or astronauts could survive ejecting at the top of the atmosphere.
Now a Frenchman named Michel Fournier aims to top the feat. In 1988, two years after the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on ascent 11 miles up, managers of Europe's space program selected the paratrooper as one of three people to leap from 25 miles up. Scientists wanted to see whether an ejection higher than Col. Kittinger's jump is survivable. After doing initial tests with lifelike dummies, Europe abandoned its ambitions for manned spaceflight and scrubbed the jump.
Michel Fournier in his jumpsuit.
Mr. Fournier wasn't so easily grounded, and in 1992 he retired to pursue the plunge solo. He has since amassed $12 million in gear -- and impoverished himself. He sold his house, antique furniture and gun collection to buy the mothballed European jump equipment and a massive balloon capable of rising higher than planes can fly. He cajoled sponsors to pitch in high-tech gear, including a pressure suit and life-support system that took nearly three years to develop.
"He is further along than anyone in 46 years," says Col. Kittinger, who at age 77 gets frequent calls from people interested in breaking his record. But the tireless prep work may not be enough, Col. Kittinger notes: "The poor guy has been plagued by a string of bad luck."
Unfriendly French regulators, high winds, a key assistant's heart trouble and a ripped balloon have conspired to keep Mr. Fournier grounded for six years. Yet the 61-year-old marathoner and champion pistol marksman, who has more than 8,500 sky dives behind him and holds the French record for highest jump (more than 39,000 feet), remains focused on his pursuit.
"It is my passion," he says sitting in the kitchen of a rundown house near the French Riviera that he rents on the cheap from his lawyer.
Belly-flopping from the edge of space isn't just an incredibly long parachute ride. At that altitude, conditions quickly turn deadly. Above 40,000 feet, the atmosphere is so thin that unprotected people lose consciousness in around 12 seconds. Even with an air supply, nitrogen bubbles may form in the blood and soft tissue if the jumper hasn't prepared by inhaling pure oxygen for several hours. If the jumper is unprotected above 50,000 feet or so, saliva boils off the tongue, and body parts begin swelling painfully. Lungs may hemorrhage as they and the skull fill with liquid.
On Col. Kittinger's ascent to his record leap, his right glove broke, causing his exposed hand to balloon. A Soviet officer died two years later from pressure sickness in a similar attempt when his face mask cracked. An American sky diver died from decompression trying to beat the record in 1966.
Col. Kittinger is a hard act to follow. After breaking more ballooning records, he signed up for active duty in Vietnam, flying 483 missions before getting shot down in 1972. He says that during 11 months in the "Hanoi Hilton" prison, he stayed sane by plotting a balloon journey. In 1984, at age 56, he set a new record by ballooning across the Atlantic solo.
Now semiretired in Florida, he takes children for barnstorming rides in his 1920s open-cockpit biplane. He says he told Mr. Fournier the same thing he tells everyone who wants to outdo his record jump: "Space is hostile."
To prepare, Mr. Fournier has checked his equipment by spending hours locked in a pressure chamber at near-vacuum conditions. In another test, he donned his three-layer suit, which consists of a thermal skin that can keep him warm for 10 minutes at minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Over that he put on a pressure suit shielded by a windproof shell that remains pliable at low temperature. Then he stood in a wind tunnel as minus 22 degree air blasted him at 100 mph, producing an effective temperature of -238 degrees.
Mr. Fournier undergoes batteries of medical tests and avoids salt and sugar, in part because nitrogen bubbles form quickly in fat cells. He wakes daily around 5 a.m. for two hours of jogging in the ravines near his house, followed by an hour-long workout and yoga.
Then the harder part begins: working the phone. Mr. Fournier is scrounging for the last $150,000 he needs to fly his team of about 50 experts and technicians to the jump site in Saskatchewan, feed them and put them up in hotel rooms.
"It's nothing," he says of the sum. But aside from his jump equipment in storage, "I don't have one kopek left," he laughs. "I sold everything."
Mr. Fournier recalls that when he retired as colonel to pursue his dream, friends told him he was crazy. But contacts from his stint in the space project proved valuable. Mr. Fournier has befriended dozens of astronauts, engineers, doctors and technicians from as far away as Brazil. They contribute research, time and equipment.
Mr. Fournier was ready to jump in France in 2000, when French authorities grew worried about safety on the ground and refused permission. Through connections, Mr. Fournier met authorities in Canada, who welcomed the jump. But the move increased his costs.
In August 2002, Mr. Fournier's team assembled at the tiny airport of North Battleford, Saskatchewan. After three weeks of preparations and waiting for winds to calm, technicians began inflating the 614-foot-tall balloon early one September morning. As the one-ton plastic bag filled with helium, a hose snapped off. By the time repairs had been made, winds had picked up and didn't abate.
The next spring, a planned jump got postponed after the launch director suffered a heart attack. The team finally returned in August 2003.
Long before dawn on a breezeless morning, doctors taped electrodes on Mr. Fournier's body to monitor his vital signs, and technicians helped him don the 130-pound suit and life-support gear. At 3:30 a.m., a forklift truck hoisted him into his pressurized gondola, which looks like a cylindrical telephone booth covered in silver quilting. Mr. Fournier sat inside, breathing pure oxygen.
As the balloon started swelling and crews untethered the top, it tore. Mr. Fournier recalls that his only thought was of where to raise more money for another attempt.
Today, Mr. Fournier is back working his network to fund a jump as early as May. Examining a piece of the ripped balloon he keeps under his couch, he is certain he will eventually make the jump.
Col. Kittinger figures the Frenchman has a pretty good chance. "There are lots of wannabes," Col. Kittinger says. "But there aren't many Michel Fourniers."
法国勇士期待高空圆梦
迄今为止没有人比乔?基廷格尔(Joe Kittinger)做得更好了，但人们仍在努力尝试。
在1960年8月16日，这位美国空军的试飞员乘坐他那有20层楼高的氦气球飞到距地面19英里的空中，这是一个以往没有任何人能够达到的高度。基廷格尔身著太空服，站在气球的边缘，对自己说：“上帝，请保佑我。”然后，他纵身跳出了气球。
基廷格尔的下降速度很快就达到了每小时714英里，成为人类历史上首位不借助任何工具就能超过音速的人。跳出气球不久后，他身上的小型降落伞就张开了，帮助他保持稳定和平衡。4分钟后，一个大的降落伞也撑开了，很快基廷格尔便安全著陆。他这历史性的一跳向世人表明：将来如果有必要的话，飞行员或宇航员能从大气层外的太空中安全下跳，返回地面。
如今，一个名叫迈克尔?福涅(Michael Fournier)的法国人立志要打破基廷格尔的记录。在1988年，即美国航天飞机“挑战者号”升空11英里后发生爆炸的第三年，负责欧洲航天计划的官员们选择了这位空降兵及另外两人，准备进行离地25英里的跳伞试验。科学家们想知道人类是否能从比基廷格尔更高的地方跳下。然而，在对仿生假人进行了初步试验后，欧洲宇航局决定放弃宏伟的载人航天计划，试跳计划也同时取消。
但福涅并没有轻易放弃，1992年退休后他开始孤军奋战。他陆陆续续购买了价值120万美元的设备，自己却因此倾家荡产。他变卖了自己的房子、古典家具以及枪支收藏品，筹资购买了别人闲置的跳伞设备，以及一个比飞机飞得还高的大气球。他还凭三寸不烂之舌从赞助商那里拉来了高科技设备，其中包括花了近三年时间才研制出来的抗压服和生命支持系统。
“他在这46年里比任何人走得都远，”基廷格尔说。现年77岁的基廷格尔依然经常接到许多电话，打电话的人都想打破他的跳伞记录。不过，仅有不懈的准备工作还是不够的，基廷格尔说，“这个可怜的家伙总是被一连串的霉运纠缠著。”
不太友好的法国监管当局、恶劣的天气、重要助手的心脏病以及带有裂缝的气球都迫使福涅在长达6年的时间里迟迟未能成行。但这位61岁的马拉松运动员及手枪射击比赛冠军依然坚持不懈。至今为止，他的跳伞次数已超出8,500次，并保持著39,000英尺以上的法国高空跳伞记录。
“我热爱这项事业，”福涅在他的厨房里表示。他如今住在法国南部里维埃拉附近一所破败的房子里，这是他通过自己的律师租到的便宜房子。
从高空往下跳并不仅仅是一项令人惊叹的跳伞运动。在这样的高度，周围的环境是致命的。在40,000英尺以上，空气是十分稀薄的，若没有采取保护措施，人在12秒钟左右就会失去意识。即使有了氧气供给，如果跳伞人没有事先连续几个小时吸入纯氧，氮气泡也有可能在血液或软组织中形成。如果跳伞人在50,000英尺或以上的高空中没有什么保护，那么他的唾液会灼伤舌头，身体也会膨胀，令人痛苦不堪。随著液体进入肺部和头脑，肺部也许会出血。
当基廷格尔上校在那次著名的跳伞中准备跳的时候，他的右手手套开了，结果手肿了起来。在另一次高空跳伞活动中，一位前苏联军官的面罩裂开了，外部的压力给他带来了后遗症，结果两年之后他就去世了。还有一位美国高空跳伞运动员在1966年死于减压治疗中，当时他试图打破基廷格尔的记录。
基廷格尔上校很了不起，令人望尘莫及。在打破多项气球跳伞记录后，他主动要求前往越南服役，成功完成了483次任务，直至1972年他的飞机被敌军击落。他回忆说，在河内监狱度过的11个月里，他一直在盘算著将来的气球之旅，因此头脑得以保持清醒。1984年，他独自一人乘气球横跨了大西洋，又创造了一项新记录。
如今基廷格尔上校居住在佛罗里达，处于半退休状态，和孩子们一道带著他那架驾驶座开放的双翼飞机四处巡游演讲。这飞机可是上世纪二十年代生产的。他总是对那些想要打破自己的高空跳伞记录的人说，“太空是危险的”，对福涅也不例外。
为了做好准备，福涅会花上几个小时把自己关在接近真空状态的压力舱里，检查各种设备。在另外一项试验中，福涅穿上带有三层材料的保暖服，它能使人在零下150华氏度的环境里保暖10分钟；接著他外面再穿上抗压服，这种服装外表抗风，低温环境也适用。然后，福涅站在一个风洞中，零下22度的冷风会以每小时100英里的速度吹来，使风洞里的实际温度降至零下238度。
福涅还经过了许多医疗检查，忌食盐和糖，这样做的部份原因是氮气泡很容易在脂肪细胞里形成。他每天早上大约5点钟醒来，在家附近的山谷里慢跑两个小时，接下来再进行一个小时的身体训练和瑜珈练习。
下面才是最难的部份：打电话。福涅目前还在筹措剩余的15万美元，只有凑齐了这笔钱，他才能带著他的团队飞往位于加拿大萨斯喀彻温省(Saskatchewan)的试跳现场，并安排好这些人的食宿。他的团队由近50名专家和技术人员组成。
“这算不了什么，”福涅说。除了跳伞设备外，“我连一个铜板都没有了，”他笑著说。“我变卖了所有的财产。”
福涅回忆起当自己退休时想要继续圆梦的情景，当时朋友们说他发疯了。不过，他曾参与太空试验计划的经历对他太有价值了。福涅结识了许多宇航员、工程师、医生和技术人员，有些甚至远在巴西。这些朋友不仅花时间精力协助他研究，还贡献设备。
福涅原先计划于2000年在法国进行太空跳伞。当时法国政府担心地面的安全问题，于是拒绝了他的申请。通过各种途径，福涅又联系了加拿大政府，后者对此表示欢迎。但这无疑增加了他的跳伞成本。
2002年8月，福涅的团队会聚在萨斯喀彻温省North Battleford的一个小机场。经过三周的准备、同时等待天气不再刮风后，技术人员在9月的一个早上开始为这个高达614英尺的气球冲气。当一吨重的塑料气球灌满了氦气时，一根软管突然裂了。当修复工作完成的时候，风又刮了起来，而且一直没停下来。
到第二年春天的时候，本来安排好的跳伞计划又被推迟了，原因是计划的总指挥突然发作了心脏病。原班人马只好在2003年8月再回到加拿大。
在一个无风的拂晓，医生们在福涅身上安上了电极，用来监控一些重要指标，同时技术人员帮助他穿上了重达130磅的衣服和救生设备。早上3:30分，一辆叉式卡车把福涅送到了维持了正常气压的气球里。这个气球看上去就像一个银灰色圆柱形电话亭。福涅坐在气球里，呼吸著纯氧。
当气球开始膨胀、同伴们解下顶部的绳子时，气球突然开裂了。福涅回忆说，他当时的唯一想法就是再去哪里筹钱进行下次试验。
目前，福涅又开始四处活动，希望人们能为他最早与今年5月的跳伞试验出资。看著放在沙发下的上次开裂的气球碎片，他确信自己一定能如愿以偿。
基廷格尔上校认为福涅成功的几率还是蛮大的。“有许多人想超越自己的崇拜者，然而像福涅这样的人却不多见，”他说。
