Magnificent Failure: Free Fall from the Edge of Space

by Craig Ryan

Overview

Locked in a desperate Cold War race against the Soviets to find out if humans could survive in space and live through a free fall from space vehicles, the Pentagon gave civilian adventurer Nick Piantanida’s Project Strato-Jump little notice until May Day, 1966. Operating in the shadows of well-funded, high-visibility Air Force and Navy projects, the former truck driver and pet store owner set a new world record for manned balloon altitude. Rising more than 23 miles over the South Dakota prairie, Piantanida nearly perished trying to set the world record for the highest free fall parachute jump from that height. On his next attempt, he would not be so lucky. Part harrowing adventure story, part space history, part psychological portrait of an extraordinary risk-taker, this story fascinates and intrigues the armchair adventurer in all of us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781588344502
Publisher:	Smithsonian Institution Press
Publication date:	09/02/2014
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Author of The Preastronauts, Craig Ryan lives in Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

Craig Ryan's engrossing new biography. . . [a] miracle of research. . . reveals. . . layer after layer of rich detail”—Sports Illustrated

From the Publisher