Three Russians parachute from stratosphere to North Pole

MOSCOW: Three Russians set a world record for parachuting from the Earth’s stratosphere to the North Pole last week in a mission that also served as a test of a new prototype communications system for use in the Arctic, an organiser of the venture told Reuters.

Mikhail Korniyenko, Alexander Lynnik and Denis Yefremov hurled themselves from an Ilyushin-76 plane at a height of 10,500 metres and spent about two and a half minutes in freefall before opening their chutes 1,000 metres above the ground. The descent was captured in a spectacular video.

All three suffered some frostbite to their cheeks, despite wearing heated masks, said organiser Nikita Tsaplin. As they plunged at a speed of more than 300 km/h, the air temperature of around -50 Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit) felt like -70C (-94F).

They landed near Russia’s Barneo polar base, where Tsaplin said they were able to power up a server using diesel generators and establish a connection to a satellite. The equipment had been dropped earlier from a lower altitude.

Communications in the Arctic are likely to take on greater importance as nations including Russia, the United States and China compete there for resources, trade routes and military advantage.

Tsaplin said the Russians were able to send data via an experimental system, though he acknowledged at this point it had nothing like the capabilities of U.S.-based Iridium Communications Inc, which provides coverage from both the Earth’s poles.