TED2015
Alan Eustace: I leapt from the stratosphere. Here's how I did it
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On October 24, 2014, Alan Eustace donned a custom-built, 235-pound spacesuit, attached himself to a weather balloon, and rose above 135,000 feet, from which point he dove to Earth, breaking both the sound barrier and previous records for high-altitude jumps. Hear his story of how -- and why.
Alan Eustace - Stratospheric explorer
Alan Eustace leapt to Earth from the edge of the stratosphere wearing only a spacesuit, shattering skydiving records and potentially revolutionizing the commercial space industry. Full bio
Alan Eustace leapt to Earth from the edge of the stratosphere wearing only a spacesuit, shattering skydiving records and potentially revolutionizing the commercial space industry. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
So I grew up in Orlando, Florida.
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I was the son of an aerospace engineer.
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I lived and breathed the Apollo program.
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We either saw the launches
from our backyard
from our backyard
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or we saw it by driving
in the hour over to the Cape.
in the hour over to the Cape.
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I was impressed by, obviously,
space and everything about it,
space and everything about it,
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but I was most impressed
by the engineering that went into it.
by the engineering that went into it.
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Behind me you see an amazing view,
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a picture that was taken
from the International Space Station,
from the International Space Station,
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and it shows a portion of our planet
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that's rarely seen and rarely studied
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and almost never explored.
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That place is called the stratosphere.
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If you start on the planet
and you go up and up and up,
and you go up and up and up,
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it gets colder and colder and colder,
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until you reach the beginning
of the stratosphere,
of the stratosphere,
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and then an amazing thing happens.
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It gets colder at a much slower rate,
and then it starts warming up,
and then it starts warming up,
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and then it gets warmer and warmer
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until the point where you can
almost survive without any protection,
almost survive without any protection,
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about zero degrees,
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and then you end up
getting colder and colder,
getting colder and colder,
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and that's the top of the stratosphere.
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It is one of the least accessible
places on our planet.
places on our planet.
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Most often, when it's visited,
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it's by astronauts
who are blazing up at it
who are blazing up at it
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at probably several times
the speed of sound,
the speed of sound,
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and they get a few seconds on the way up,
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and then they get this blazing
ball of fire coming back in,
ball of fire coming back in,
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on the way back in.
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But the question I asked is, is it
possible to linger in the stratosphere?
possible to linger in the stratosphere?
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Is it possible to experience
the stratosphere?
the stratosphere?
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Is it possible to explore
the stratosphere?
the stratosphere?
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I studied this using
my favorite search engine
my favorite search engine
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for quite a while, about a year,
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and then I made a scary phone call.
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It was a reference from a friend of mine
to call Taber MacCallum
to call Taber MacCallum
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from Paragon Space
Development Corporation,
Development Corporation,
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and I asked him the question:
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is it possible to build
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a system to go into the stratosphere?
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And he said it was.
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And after a period of about three years,
we proceeded to do just that.
we proceeded to do just that.
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And on October 24 of last year,
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in this suit,
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I started on the ground,
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I went up in a balloon to 135,890 feet --
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but who's counting?
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(Laughter)
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Came back to Earth
at speeds of up to 822 miles an hour.
at speeds of up to 822 miles an hour.
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It was a four-minute
and 27-second descent.
and 27-second descent.
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And when I got to 10,000 feet,
I opened a parachute and I landed.
I opened a parachute and I landed.
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(Applause)
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03:06
But this is really a science talk,
and it's really an engineering talk,
and it's really an engineering talk,
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and what was amazing to me
about that experience
about that experience
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is that Taber said, yes, I think
we can build a stratospheric suit,
we can build a stratospheric suit,
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and more than that, come down tomorrow
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and let's talk to the team
that formed the core of the group
that formed the core of the group
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that actually built it.
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And they did something
which I think is important,
which I think is important,
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which is they took
the analogy of scuba diving.
the analogy of scuba diving.
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So in scuba diving,
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you have a self-contained system.
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You have everything
that you could ever need.
that you could ever need.
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You have a scuba tank.
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You have a wetsuit.
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You have visibility.
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And that scuba is exactly this system,
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and we're going to launch it
into the stratosphere.
into the stratosphere.
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Three years later, this is what we have.
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We've got an amazing suit
that was made by ILC Dover.
that was made by ILC Dover.
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ILC Dover was the company
that made all of the Apollo suits
that made all of the Apollo suits
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and all of the extravehicular
activity suits.
activity suits.
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They had never sold a suit commercially,
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only to the government,
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but they sold one to me,
which I am very grateful for.
which I am very grateful for.
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Up here we have a parachute.
This was all about safety.
This was all about safety.
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Everyone on the team knew
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that I have a wife
and two small children --
and two small children --
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10 and 15 --
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and I wanted to come back safely.
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So there's a main parachute
and a reserve parachute,
and a reserve parachute,
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and if I do nothing,
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the reserve parachute is going to open
because of an automatic opening device.
because of an automatic opening device.
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The suit itself
can protect me from the cold.
can protect me from the cold.
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This area in the front here
has thermal protection.
has thermal protection.
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It will actually heat water
that will wrap around my body.
that will wrap around my body.
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It has two redundant oxygen tanks.
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Even if I was to get
a quarter-inch hole in this suit,
a quarter-inch hole in this suit,
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which is extremely unlikely,
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this system would still protect me
from the low pressure of space.
from the low pressure of space.
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The main advantage of this system
is weight and complexity.
is weight and complexity.
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So the system weighs about 500 pounds,
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and if you compare it to the other attempt
recently to go up in the stratosphere,
recently to go up in the stratosphere,
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they used a capsule.
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And to do a capsule, there's an amazing
amount of complexity that goes into it,
amount of complexity that goes into it,
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and it weighed about 3,000 pounds,
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and to raise 3,000 pounds
to an altitude of 135,000 feet,
to an altitude of 135,000 feet,
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which was my target altitude,
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it would have taken a balloon
that was 45 to 50 million cubic feet.
that was 45 to 50 million cubic feet.
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Because I only weighed
500 pounds in this system,
500 pounds in this system,
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we could do it with a balloon
that was five times smaller than that,
that was five times smaller than that,
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and that allowed us to use a launch system
that was dramatically simpler
that was dramatically simpler
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than what needs to be done
for a much larger balloon.
for a much larger balloon.
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So with that, I want to take you
to Roswell, New Mexico, on October 24.
to Roswell, New Mexico, on October 24.
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We had an amazing team
that got up in the middle of the night.
that got up in the middle of the night.
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And here's the suit.
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Again, this is using the front loader
that you'll see in a second,
that you'll see in a second,
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and I want to play you a video
of the actual launch.
of the actual launch.
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Roswell's a great place
to launch balloons,
to launch balloons,
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but it's a fantastic place
to land under a parachute,
to land under a parachute,
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especially when you're going to land
70 miles away from the place you started.
70 miles away from the place you started.
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That's a helium truck in the background.
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It's darkness.
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I've already spent about an hour
and a half pre-breathing.
and a half pre-breathing.
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And then here you see the suit going on.
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It takes about an hour to get the suit on.
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Astronauts get this really nice
air-conditioned van
air-conditioned van
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to go to the launch pad,
but I got a front loader.
but I got a front loader.
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(Laughter)
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You can see the top.
You can see the balloon up there.
You can see the balloon up there.
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That's where the helium is.
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This is Dave clearing the airspace
with the FAA for 15 miles.
with the FAA for 15 miles.
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And there we go.
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(Laughter)
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That's me waving with my left hand.
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The reason I'm waving with my left hand
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is because on the right hand
is the emergency cutaway.
is the emergency cutaway.
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(Laughter)
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My team forbade me
from using my right hand.
from using my right hand.
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So the trip up is beautiful.
It's kind of like Google Earth in reverse.
It's kind of like Google Earth in reverse.
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(Laughter)
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It took two hours
and seven minutes to go up,
and seven minutes to go up,
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and it was the most peaceful
two hours and seven minutes.
two hours and seven minutes.
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I was mostly trying to relax.
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My heart rate was very low
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and I was trying not to use
very much oxygen.
very much oxygen.
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You can see how the fields
in the background
in the background
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are relatively big at this point,
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and you can see me going up and up.
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It's interesting here,
because if you look,
because if you look,
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I'm right over the airport,
and I'm probably at 50,000 feet,
and I'm probably at 50,000 feet,
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but immediately I'm about to go
into a stratospheric wind
into a stratospheric wind
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of over 120 miles an hour.
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This is my flight director telling me
that I had just gone higher
that I had just gone higher
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than anybody else
had ever gone in a balloon,
had ever gone in a balloon,
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and I was about 4,000 feet from release.
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This is what it looks like.
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You can see the darkness of space,
the curvature of the Earth,
the curvature of the Earth,
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the fragile planet below.
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I'm practicing my emergency procedures
mentally right now.
mentally right now.
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If anything goes wrong,
I want to be ready.
I want to be ready.
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And the main thing that I want to do here
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is to have a release and fall
and stay completely stable.
and stay completely stable.
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(Video) Ground control. Everyone ready?
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Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
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Alan Eustace: There's the balloon
going by, fully inflated at this point.
going by, fully inflated at this point.
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And there you can see a drogue parachute,
which I'll demonstrate in just a second,
which I'll demonstrate in just a second,
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because that's really important.
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There's the balloon
going by a second time.
going by a second time.
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Right now, I'm about
at the speed of sound.
at the speed of sound.
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There's nothing for me to tell
it's the speed of sound,
it's the speed of sound,
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and very soon I will actually be
as fast as I ever get,
as fast as I ever get,
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822 miles an hour.
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(Video) Ground control: We lost the data.
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AE: So now I'm down low right now
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and you can basically see
the parachute come out right there.
the parachute come out right there.
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At this point, I'm very happy
that there's a parachute out.
that there's a parachute out.
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I thought I was the only one happy,
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but it turns out mission control
was really happy as well.
was really happy as well.
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The really nice thing about this
is the moment I opened --
is the moment I opened --
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I had a close of friend of mine,
Blikkies, my parachute guy.
Blikkies, my parachute guy.
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He flew in another airplane,
and he actually jumped out
and he actually jumped out
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and landed right next to me.
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He was my wingman on the descent.
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This is my landing, but it's probably more
properly called a crash.
properly called a crash.
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(Laughter)
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I hate to admit it, but this wasn't
even close to my worst landing.
even close to my worst landing.
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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(Video) Man: How are you doing?
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AE: Hi there!
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Yay.
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(Laughter)
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So I want to tell you one thing
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that you might not have seen
in that video,
in that video,
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but one of the most critical parts
of the entire thing was the release
of the entire thing was the release
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and what happens right after you release.
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And what we tried to do was use
something called a drogue parachute,
something called a drogue parachute,
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and a drogue parachute
was there to stabilize me.
was there to stabilize me.
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And I'll show you one of those right now.
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If any of you have ever
gone tandem skydiving,
gone tandem skydiving,
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you probably used one of these.
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But the problem with one of these things
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is right when you release,
you're in zero gravity.
you're in zero gravity.
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So it's very easy for this
to just turn right around you.
to just turn right around you.
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And before you know it,
you can be tangled up or spinning,
you can be tangled up or spinning,
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or you can release this drogue late,
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in which case what happens
is you're going down at 800 miles an hour,
is you're going down at 800 miles an hour,
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and this thing is going to destroy itself
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and not be very useful.
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But the guys at United Parachute
Technologies came up with this idea,
Technologies came up with this idea,
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and it was a roll that looks like that,
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but watch what happens when I pull it out.
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It's forming a pipe.
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This pipe is so solid
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that you can take this drogue parachute
and wrap it around,
and wrap it around,
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and there's no way
it will ever tangle with you.
it will ever tangle with you.
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And that prevented
a very serious potential problem.
a very serious potential problem.
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So nothing is possible
without an amazing team of people.
without an amazing team of people.
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The core of this was about 20 people
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that worked on this for the three years,
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and they were incredible.
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People asked me what the best part
of this whole thing was,
of this whole thing was,
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and it was a chance
to work with the best experts
to work with the best experts
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in meteorology and ballooning
and parachute technology
and parachute technology
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and environmental systems
and high altitude medicine.
and high altitude medicine.
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It was fantastic. It's an engineer's dream
to work with that group of people.
to work with that group of people.
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And I also at the same time
wanted to thank my friends at Google,
wanted to thank my friends at Google,
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both for supporting me during this effort
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and also covering for me
in the times that I was away.
in the times that I was away.
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But there's one other group
I wanted to thank, and that's my family.
I wanted to thank, and that's my family.
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Yay.
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(Applause)
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I would constantly give them speeches
about the safety of technology,
about the safety of technology,
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and they weren't hearing any of it.
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It was super hard on them,
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and the only reason
that my wife put up with it
that my wife put up with it
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was because I came back incredibly happy
after each of the 250 tests,
after each of the 250 tests,
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and she didn't want
to take that away from me.
to take that away from me.
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So I want to close with a story.
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My daughter Katelyn, my 15-year-old,
she and I were in the car,
she and I were in the car,
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and we were driving down the road,
and she was sitting there,
and she was sitting there,
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and she had this idea, and she goes,
"Dad, I've got this idea."
"Dad, I've got this idea."
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And so I listened to her idea
and I said, "Katelyn, that's impossible."
and I said, "Katelyn, that's impossible."
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And she looks at me
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and she goes, "Dad,
after what you just did,
after what you just did,
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how can you call anything impossible?"
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And I laughed, and I said,
"OK, it's not impossible,
"OK, it's not impossible,
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it's just very, very hard."
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And then I paused for a second,
and I said, "Katelyn,
and I said, "Katelyn,
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it may not be impossible,
it may not even be very, very hard,
it may not even be very, very hard,
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it's just that I don't know how to do it."
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alan Eustace - Stratospheric explorerAlan Eustace leapt to Earth from the edge of the stratosphere wearing only a spacesuit, shattering skydiving records and potentially revolutionizing the commercial space industry.
Why you should listen
Two years after Felix Baumgartner jumped from a capsule in the stratosphere for Red Bull, a quiet group led by now-retired Google exec Alan Eustace beat the height record -- without a capsule. (Neither livestreamed nor promoted, the jump record was announced the next day.) In a custom 500-pound spacesuit, Eustace was strapped to a weather balloon, and rose to a height of over 135,000 feet, where he dove to Earth at speeds exceeding 821 mph -- breaking both the sound barrier and previous records for high-altitude jumps.
Leading up to this jump, Eustace and his partners in StratEx had spent years solving a key problem of stratosphere exploration: returning human beings to Earth from the edge of space using minimal life-support systems. In the process, they’ve opened the door to cheaper and safer near-space travel.
Alan Eustace | Speaker | TED.com