Kornienko and Lynnik began preparations for the first jump from the stratosphere

Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and instructor pilot Alexander Lynnik plan to make the world's first parachute jump from the stratosphere over the South Pole of the planet in November. They announced this on October 18 at the presentation of their "Antarctic Project", held in Cape Town (South Africa).

"The project for the South Pole is a continuation of our project implemented at the North Pole," Kornienko told IOL.

On April 12, 2024, the team has already set a world record by making the first stratospheric jump over the North Pole from a height of more than 10 km. Then Kornienko, Lynnik and engineer Denis Yefremov spent about two minutes in free fall at a temperature of -70 degrees and a speed of up to 300 km/h. The parachutes were deployed at an altitude of about 1.5 thousand meters.

"This time we are more ambitious," the cosmonaut added, noting that a new jump is planned from an even higher altitude.

Space exploration: Russia to send representatives of three countries into orbit

These may be citizens of Indonesia, North Korea, Vietnam or the Central African Republic, experts believe.

Earlier, on September 24, Kornienko announced that the jump would take place from an IL-76 aircraft specially prepared for the expedition and decorated with the inscription Antarctica. According to Izvestia, the crew will use domestic equipment weighing about 36 kg, including heated overalls, gloves, goggles and helmets, as well as oxygen and parachute systems.

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