٠٠:٠٣:٣٣Russian skydivers held a dress rehearsal for their planned 10-kilometre high stratospheric jump to the Barneo polar station, a drifting camp on the ice, as seen in Murmansk on Sunday.
Footage features parachutists putting on their gear under the supervision of instructors and practising the final moments ahead of the jump on board the IL-76 aircraft, as well as attending a lecture.
According to Dmitri Glagolev, deputy director of the Central Aviation Search and Rescue Centre, the jump from the stratosphere had some very specific challenges for the team.
"Only pure oxygen can be used for breathing. Plus the air is rarefied (lower pressure) as well. The terminal velocity will be higher than in normal conditions for skydivers: about 65 metres per second to a height of 5,000 metres, and from that point - about 50 metres per second," he explained.
"So it will be a long freefall in a stable body position, blowing cold air, the temperature outside is minus 50 degrees Celsius," he added.
Glagolev added that the jump would help collect data that could be useful for rescuers, as well as cosmonauts and other specialists.
"For example, when landing cargo in the mountains from high altitudes - six or seven thousand [metres] - to help someone, you also have to breathe using oxygen, so you have to work with oxygen equipment," he said.
Russian pilot and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko said that the jump would be 'record-setting' because 'no one has ever jumped to the North Pole from the stratosphere yet'.
According to the Roscosmos press service, the event is scheduled for the first week of April, and coincides with 'the upcoming anniversary of the capital of Bashkortostan, the 120th anniversary of the birth of pilot Valery Chkalov and Cosmonautics Day'.
A representative from the Russian Book of Records will be present to document and verify the jump itself.
'Will be record-setting' - Russian skydivers prepare for stratospheric jump at North Pole
Russian skydivers held a dress rehearsal for their planned 10-kilometre high stratospheric jump to the Barneo polar station, a drifting camp on the ice, as seen in Murmansk on Sunday.
Footage features parachutists putting on their gear under the supervision of instructors and practising the final moments ahead of the jump on board the IL-76 aircraft, as well as attending a lecture.
According to Dmitri Glagolev, deputy director of the Central Aviation Search and Rescue Centre, the jump from the stratosphere had some very specific challenges for the team.
"Only pure oxygen can be used for breathing. Plus the air is rarefied (lower pressure) as well. The terminal velocity will be higher than in normal conditions for skydivers: about 65 metres per second to a height of 5,000 metres, and from that point - about 50 metres per second," he explained.
"So it will be a long freefall in a stable body position, blowing cold air, the temperature outside is minus 50 degrees Celsius," he added.
Glagolev added that the jump would help collect data that could be useful for rescuers, as well as cosmonauts and other specialists.
"For example, when landing cargo in the mountains from high altitudes - six or seven thousand [metres] - to help someone, you also have to breathe using oxygen, so you have to work with oxygen equipment," he said.
Russian pilot and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko said that the jump would be 'record-setting' because 'no one has ever jumped to the North Pole from the stratosphere yet'.
According to the Roscosmos press service, the event is scheduled for the first week of April, and coincides with 'the upcoming anniversary of the capital of Bashkortostan, the 120th anniversary of the birth of pilot Valery Chkalov and Cosmonautics Day'.
A representative from the Russian Book of Records will be present to document and verify the jump itself.
Russian skydivers held a dress rehearsal for their planned 10-kilometre high stratospheric jump to the Barneo polar station, a drifting camp on the ice, as seen in Murmansk on Sunday.
Footage features parachutists putting on their gear under the supervision of instructors and practising the final moments ahead of the jump on board the IL-76 aircraft, as well as attending a lecture.
According to Dmitri Glagolev, deputy director of the Central Aviation Search and Rescue Centre, the jump from the stratosphere had some very specific challenges for the team.
"Only pure oxygen can be used for breathing. Plus the air is rarefied (lower pressure) as well. The terminal velocity will be higher than in normal conditions for skydivers: about 65 metres per second to a height of 5,000 metres, and from that point - about 50 metres per second," he explained.
"So it will be a long freefall in a stable body position, blowing cold air, the temperature outside is minus 50 degrees Celsius," he added.
Glagolev added that the jump would help collect data that could be useful for rescuers, as well as cosmonauts and other specialists.
"For example, when landing cargo in the mountains from high altitudes - six or seven thousand [metres] - to help someone, you also have to breathe using oxygen, so you have to work with oxygen equipment," he said.
Russian pilot and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko said that the jump would be 'record-setting' because 'no one has ever jumped to the North Pole from the stratosphere yet'.
According to the Roscosmos press service, the event is scheduled for the first week of April, and coincides with 'the upcoming anniversary of the capital of Bashkortostan, the 120th anniversary of the birth of pilot Valery Chkalov and Cosmonautics Day'.
A representative from the Russian Book of Records will be present to document and verify the jump itself.