PV Gap

Clinton Said:

Has NASA ever drafted a lost-astronaut space-retrieval kit?

We Answered:

Well, ..., to my knowledge nothing has been implemented but I distinctly recall in the 1960's a contingency plan. Where an astronaut could reenter earth's atmosphere tethered by a high altitude helium balloon and then parachute to earth once he/she had achieved a safe altitude. The feasibility of such a maneuver was demonstrated by Joe Kittinger on August 16, 1960.

Thus, the feasibility of a High Altitude Low Orbital (HALO) jump was proven well before we saw it graphically portrayed in the last Star Trek Movie. However, despite it's feasibility, I doubt that NASA has implemented it as a viable plan and IMHO there are a couple of reasons why: 1) The Jump would happen in the case of separation from a space craft or the space craft had to be abandoned in orbit and this just hasn't happened. Generally safety procedures and other backup contingencies are in place to prevent that from happening. 2) Typically, when disaster has occurred it been during launch or re-entry during which launch or re-entry speeds and forces would render such an attempt fruitless and most likely fatal.