Leonardo Da Vinci
~ dreamed up the idea of a parachute

Faust Vrancic
~ built a rigid-framed parachute based on Da Vinci's tattered old sketches
~ tested his rickety contraption by jumping from a tower in Venice
~ somehow landed safely on the ground below

Jean Pierre Blanchard
~ in 1793 used silk to make the first soft, foldable parachute

Andrew Garnerin
~ put Blanchard's design to the test for the first time in 1797 by leaping from a hot air balloon

Albert Berry
~ in 1912 thrilled onlookers with another first by jumping from an airplane to test a parachute
~ the plane took off from somewhere near St. Louis with Berry on board
~ climbed down through the fuselage frame, stood on the axel, and hopped off
~ executed a perfect drop
~ admitted to feeling "uneasy" since he fell nearly 500 feet before the chute opened

NASA
~ 2007 NASA's test of the Ares I parachute system consists of three types of parachutes:
(1) a small pilot chute, which pulls out the drogue chute;
(2) a 68-foot diameter drogue chute, which maneuvers the booster into a vertical position and slows its descent
(3) three main parachutes, which slow the booster more, carrying it to splashdown
~ testing of the parachute system is scheduled to continue through 2010
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