Three years. One jump from the stratosphere.
Extreme cold, the vacuum of space, and out-of-control spinning during freefall all threaten a stratospheric explorer. When Alan Eustace began this process, four aeronauts had ascended into the stratosphere intending to skydive down. Two of them died. Alan used a suit system designed from scratch — the first since the 1970s — and a wholly unique stabilization system to bring him safely down.
Jared Leidich, a member of the team that designed and built the space suit, recounts how a small group of engineers spent three years designing, building, testing, failing, and starting over until they built the system that carried Eustace safely to the edge of the black sky and back. It's a story of how spacesuits, parachutes, and high-altitude balloons work — and of how engineers collaborate, invent, and carry the weight of sending a person into the unknown.
The Wild Black Yonder is an invitation to imagine the future of travel away from the planet — the missions, the craft, and the reasons for going.
Buy the Book
Authored by Jared Leidich · Edited by Andy Wolaver & Nancy Casey · Illustrated by Jenna Westbrook
