Record-breaking skydiver trained at Brooks City-Base

An altitude chamber at Brooks City-Base used decades ago in development of the U.S. space program played a key role in Felix Baumgartner's record-breaking skydive over New Mexico on Sunday.

To prepare for his televised leap from more than 24 miles up, Baumgartner and his capsule both were tested in a large environmental chamber at Building 160 at Brooks, part of an aerospace complex dedicated by President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 21, 1963.

Although hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, was a key concern, Baumgartner was surprised how cold it felt, even while wearing his protective suit, when the temperature in the chamber was lowered to -50 degrees Fahrenheit.

“I remember hearing him say, ‘It's pretty cold' — a lot colder than he expected,” said Bill Ercoline, manager of San Antonio operations for Wyle, an aerospace firm and tenant at Brooks.

During a weeklong visit in November 2011, Baumgartner and his capsule “went up” on three simulations in the chamber, including one at an altitude of 120,000 feet — the highest level ever replicated in the facility, Ercoline said.

Assisted by hypobaric chamber technicians Jim Hanna, left, and Tommy Miller, right, Bill Ercoline, manager of San Antonio operations for Wyle, explains how the Red Bull Stratos space capsule was loaded into the hypobaric chamber, seen in the background, where Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner trained for his supersonic free-fall, Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, at Wyle Science and Technology Engineering Group, at Brooks City-Base in San Antonio. less Assisted by hypobaric chamber technicians Jim Hanna, left, and Tommy Miller, right, Bill Ercoline, manager of San Antonio operations for Wyle, explains how the Red Bull Stratos space capsule was loaded into the ... more Photo: Darren Abate, Darren Abate/For The Express-New Photo: Darren Abate, Darren Abate/For The Express-New Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Record-breaking skydiver trained at Brooks City-Base 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

When the 43-year-old skydiver stepped off the pod, the chamber simulated a rapid descent.

The specially designed capsule built by Sage Cheshire Aerospace for the Red Bull Stratos project was returned to Brooks for more tests in the chamber on Sept. 24.

“They wanted to make sure everything worked correctly. And they wanted to keep him safe,” Ercoline said.

John “Mac” McCarthy, director of facilities and infrastructure with the Brooks Development Authority, said he and his wife and friends intently watched the jump Sunday on the Discovery Channel. Baumgartner set a record for the highest human freefall and was the first skydiver to break the speed of sound, reaching a peak velocity of 833.9 mph.

“It was pretty intense,” McCarthy said. “This furthered our knowledge of how a human can survive these various elements.”

McCarthy said the successful jump serves as a testament that the equipment used for years by astronauts and jet pilots still can save lives.

Brooks was run by the military from 1917 to 2011 but no longer is an Air Force base. The development authority owns the buildings and equipment, and is converting the base to a planned, mixed-use community.

“Even though it has some age on it, it still is cutting-edge equipment,” McCarthy said.

Ercoline said the altitude chamber has been used to test consumer products. One test, aimed at simulating a rapid descent of a commercial airliner, gauged the effects of altitude change on a laptop computer.

“We do a wide range of experiments with these chambers,” Ercoline said.

shuddleston@express-news.net