Joseph Kittinger

Joseph Kittinger (Google ())

I consider Joseph William Kittinger a great man, a hero. He is the first person to conduct stratospheric space diving.

Joseph Kittinger  is a retired colonel in the United Stated Air Force. In 1960 he set a world record for the highest skydive from the height greater than 31 kilometers.  He was also the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon.

Joseph Kittinger was born on July 27, 1928 in Tampa, Florida. He was educated at the University of Florida. He became fascinated with planes at a very young age. He entered the US Air Force as an aviation cadet in March 1949. On completion of aviation cadet training in March 1950 he was  assigned to the fighter-bomber wing based in West Germany

Captain Joseph Kittinger (Google ())

In 1954 Captain Kittinger was transferred to the Air Force Missile Development Centre at New Mexico and then to the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories. He took part in Project Excelsior (meaning "ever upward"). For the project Joseph Kittinger  made three extreme altitude parachute jumps from an open gondola carried aloft by large helium balloons.

Kittinger next to the Excelsior gondola (Google ())

On August 16, 1960   Joe Kittinger ascended in a helium-balloon gondola to 102,800 feet above the Earth and jumped. His free-fall lasted 4 minutes and 36 seconds. As he fell, Kittinger neared the speed of sound.

Kittinger set historical numbers for highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump, longest duration drogue-fall (four minutes), and fastest speed by a human being through the atmosphere.

In 1965 Kittinger served three combat tours of duty during the Vietnam War. He flew 483 combat missions. He was shot down, and spent 11 months as a prisoner of war in the North Vietnamese prison.

Kittinger returned to the USA in 1973. He retired in 1978 at the age of 50.  Being a retired colonel he became the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic in a hot air balloon.

Kittinger in sky dive (Google ())

In 2012, at the age of 84, Kittinger participated in the Red Bull Stratos project as capsule communicator.  He directed Felix Baumgatner on his record-breaking 39-kilometer freefall from Earth's stratosphere. It exceeded Kittinger's earlier free fall in 1960.

"We did it for air crews and astronauts - for the learning, not to set a record. Others will be going up as skydivers. Somebody will beat it someday.  Records are made to be busted.  And I'll be elated.  But I'll also be concerned that they're properly trained."

Captain Kittinger later in life (Google ())

Joseph Kittinger dreamed of flying ever since he was a young boy in Florida.

Joseph Kittingwe is a pioneer in the technology of manned space flight.  His work has proved to scientists that it is possible for human beings to survive at ultra-high altitudes. The research from these missions is very important for the American Space Program. 

He is truly an American hero.