Talk:Victor Prather
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography. For more information, visit the project page. | ||
| Start | This article has been rated as Start-Class on the project's quality scale. [FAQ] | ||
Victor Prather vs. Joseph Kittinger
I stumbled upon this article via the article "Ballon (Aircraft)" and the records mentioned there. The jump described in this article here, contradicts the claims in the articles about Joseph Kittinger and Project Excelsior, as Prather's jump would be higher than Kittinger's. Google for " "Project RAM" parachute" and " "Project RAM" ballon" didn't give much inside.
[edit] Death of Lt. Commander Victor A. Prather
There appear to be differing accounts of Lt. Cdr. Victor Prather's accidental death after the 1961 flight to 113,740 feet. I haven't found any other sources that say they ascended a ladder. The following description of the death of Victor Prather is based on Alfred H. Mikesell's (Astronomer on Malcom Ross's May 6-May 7, 1958 flight into the Stratosphere) oral account related to me on January 25, 2008 of his personal communication with Malcolm Ross soon after the 1961 flight.
The record-setting 1961 balloon flight was carefully planned out with a water landing and extraction of the balloonists to be made by boat. Ross and Prather were wearing the Navy's Mark IV full pressure suit, which was basically a space suit, throughout the flight. After the water landing, Victor Prather removed his pressure helmet. That was not a problem for the planned boat extraction. While the balloonists were waiting for the boat, a helicopter flight crew, without any orders to do so, lowered the lifting harness for a helicopter extraction. Lt. Cdr. Ross assumed that there had been a plan change and was able to successfully put the harness on. After they transferred Ross to the aircraft carrier (USS Antietam (CV-36)), the helicopter crew returned to extract Victor Prather.
Presumably due to fatigue from the flight and the many hours of preparation for it, the weight of the flight suit, and insufficient rehearsal for the unplanned helicopter extraction, Victor Prather was unable to put the lifting harness on successfully, and only wrapped it around his arm. When the helicopter jerked upwards, Prather lost his grip on the harness and fell back into the water, where his flight suit flooded and he drowned. Catrachos (talk) 17:35, 27 January 2008 (UTC) (John Mikesell)
This version is correct. There was no ladder. In addition, there was no "jump". It was a balloon altitude record that stands to this day. Check out the National Geographic from June, 1961 for more information and photos. Thank you.20.137.18.50 (talk) 20:02, 31 March 2008 (UTC)Mrs. Victor A. Prather III
