3 Russians parachute from Stratosphere to North Pole, set world record

Three Russians have achieved a world record by parachuting from the Earth's stratosphere to the North Pole. The mission also served as a test for a new prototype communications system designed for Arctic use, according to one of the organisers.

Mikhail Korniyenko, Alexander Lynnik, and Denis Yefremov leapt from an Ilyushin-76 plane at an altitude of 10,500 metres (34,450 feet) and spent approximately two and a half minutes in freefall before usingtheir parachutes 1,000 metresabove the ground.

The entire descent was captured in a breath-taking video. Despite wearing heated masks, all three suffered frostbite on their cheeks due to the extreme cold, which felt like -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit) as they plummeted at speeds exceeding 300 km/h.

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They touched down near Russia's Barneo polar base, where Tsaplin mentioned they managed to activate a server using diesel generators and establish a satellite connection. The equipment had been airdropped earlier from a lower altitude.

Communication in the Arctic is expected to become increasingly significant as countries like Russia, the United States, and China vie for resources, trade routes, and military advantages.

Tsaplin noted that the Russians were able to transmit data through an experimental system, although he admitted that, at this stage, it lacked the capabilities of US-based Iridium Communications Inc., which offers coverage from both of Earth's poles.

"Of course, our solution is a prototype, but still we managed, from our server, to connect with our satellite and to transfer data," said Tsaplin, who is managing partner and co-founder of Russian hosting provider RUVDS.

"Sure, it's not Iridium just yet, but we made some small steps in that direction and that was actually the task - to see how realistic it would be to build a low-cost solution in order to get access from a computer to a satellite," he told Reuters.

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(With inputs from agencies)