Physician’s leap of faith led him to the edge of space

IN the 1940s many bomber crews under attack had no option but to parachute to safety from high altitudes. But in 1943 a US doctor made a record-breaking jump because he wanted to see what would happen.

Lieutenant Colonel William R. Lovelace II, lies on the ground after this record-breaking jump in 1943.

IN the 1940s many bomber crews under attack had no option but to parachute to safety from high altitudes. Survival was not guaranteed but it was better than going down with the plane.

US physician Colonel Dr William Randolph “Randy” Lovelace II had a choice but decided to jump out of plane at an astounding 40,200ft (12,252m) despite the risks. He risked his own life to collect data that would enable him to make things safer for those men who had to jump.

He took his record skydive, 73 years ago today, to test out oxygen equipment for flight crews. It was his first parachute jump and it was from an altitude higher than anybody had ever attempted to jump before.

When he leapt from the plane he was knocked out by the force of his parachute opening and lost one of his gloves. But despite landing unconscious, with a frostbitten hand, the test gave Lovelace the data he needed.

Lovelace was an inquisitive man whose interests centred on the human respiratory system, but branched out into aviation, oxygen masks, the safety of crews at high altitudes and also human survival in space.

He was born in 1907, his father Edgar Lovelace was a rancher. His uncle William was a doctor who had contracted tuberculosis and moved from New York to New Mexico to improve his health and set up his own clinic, bringing Edgar and William II, known as Randy, with him.

Randy Lovelace often lived with his uncle and grew up wanting to follow in his footsteps. He went to Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1934, and while there married Mary Moulton.

He did his residency at Bellevue Hospital in New York, furthering his studies in Europe before becoming part of the staff of the Mayo Clinic, where he later became chief of surgery. His travels helped foster a fascination with aviation.

Lt Colonel William Lovelace II receives the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1943.

In 1938 when the US military asked the institution to form a special unit looking into the physiological problems of high altitude flight, as an aviation enthusiast Lovelace gladly headed up the special unit, and was commissioned first lieutenant in the US Army Medical Corps Reserve.

He helped develop oxygen systems for high altitude bombers, but was concerned about survival rates of those who bailed out, suggesting that the air force issue the crews with small personal oxygen bottles. When his superior denied him permission to conduct experiments, Lovelace, by then a Lt Colonel, just did it anyway, making his secret record jump from a Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress over Ephrata, Washington in 1943.

Seeing the success of the experiment the military conceded that the oxygen tanks were a good idea and Lovelace was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for his jump and its role in increasing survival chances of air crews.

During his time in the army he met Jacqueline Cochrane, the pioneer female aviator who became a long-time friend. She encouraged him to further the cause for female pilots, prompting him to collect medical evidence to show that women were just as capable as men in the air.

In 1946 after two of his children died from polio he and his wife headed back to New Mexico. His uncle encouraged him to work at his clinic and Lovelace agreed to do so provided he could turn it into a research, teaching and health care institution, founding the Lovelace Foundation for Medical Education and Research (now the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute).

In 1958 with his unique qualifications for understanding human bodies under stress at high altitudes, Lovelace was appointed chairman of the NASA Special Advisory Committee on Life Science. Part of his brief was to help test potential candidates for the space program. Meanwhile he also used his institute to conduct research into the capability of women for space flight, proving that women could pass the same tests as the men with the same success rate.

He rose to become NASA’s Director of Space medicine in 1964. On December 12, 1965, the same day Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 accomplished the first manned rendezvous in space, Lovelace and his wife were killed when their pilot became disoriented while flying a private plane near Aspen, Colorado. President Lyndon Johnson issued a statement: “A day of great achievement in space was marred by news of the death of Dr William R. Lovelace II. His life was too short, although his legacy to space medicine will endure and will be a resource of assurance to future astronauts whose names and deeds are yet unknown.”

Originally published as Physician’s leap of faith led him to the edge of space