On August 16, 1960, Joe Kittinger was strapped into an specially modified U.S. Air Force balloon and set off on an ascent into the clouds. After 4 hours he reached the edge of space at a record breaking attitude of 102,800 feet (approx 20 miles above land). At that height he was basically in outerspace with very little atmosphere and an outside temperature at -94 degres below zero.
Then Joe did something that showed he had the biggest balls on the planet....he jumped out.
Joe was in freefall for over 4 minutes and hit a top speed of 700 miles per hour.
Lucky for us he brought a camera.
Here's a link to a short video about the jump. Even cooler is the Boards Of Canada video "Dayvan Cowboy" which uses footage from the event.
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Holy crap that's amazing!
He has done a lot more than you think...
Kittinger was a part of Project Excelsior (meaning "ever upward"). For this project, those who went up would take the fastest route down - by jumping out of the balloon in a pressurized suit. His first jump occurred on November 16, 1959, and was a near disaster. After jumping from an altitude of 76,000 feet, his small drag parachute malfunctioned, opening too early and catching him around the neck, causing him to spiral down in a flat spin towards Earth and lose consciousness. Luckily, his emergency automatic parachute activated at 10,000 feet, saving his life. (It was later determined he spun at a rotational velocity of 120 rpm and the G factor calculated at his extremities was over 22 times, setting another record.) THREE WEEKS LATER he successfully jumped again from 74,700 feet.
During the 1960 ascent, his right glove on his pressure suit broke, causing his hand to swell up to the size of a softball, but he didn't quit!
After the jump in 1960, he wrote a book in 1961 titled "The Long, Lonely Leap" which is now out of print (copies go for as much as $350.00).
In 1962, accompanied by an astronomer named William White, they rose to an altitude of 82,200 feet in a balloon over Holloman AFB, New Mexico and hovered for 18 and a half hours to check variations in brightness of star images caused by the atmosphere. The experiment was dubbed "Project Stargazer" (take THAT, Jean-Luc Picard!).
Kittinger volunteered for THREE combat tours in Vietnam before he himself was shot down on May 11th, 1972, after which he spent 11 months in captivity as a POW (he retired as a Colonel in 1978).
In 1983 he set a record for flying a balloon from Las Vegas to New York in under 72 hours, and in 1984 he was the FIRST to successfuly pilot a solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic (take THAT, Richard Branson!). He successfully completed the historic flight in 3 and a half days. Crash-landing in northern Italy, he set a record for the longest solo balloon flight as well as a distance record for this class of balloon.
Oh, but that's not all...
He is happily retired in his home state of Florida, working for a air circus called Molly O'Grady's, still flying in old bi-planes, still going around the nation in balloons and showing people the power of flight and space exploration, and most of all, he's doing all of this at the young age of 77!
How do I know what he's up to today? I looked around online and found a working number down in South Florida and got a hold of his wonderful wife Sherry, and she said yes, I can drop him a note anytime - and you can too! :
Col. Joseph Kittinger, Jr.
608 Mariner Way
Altamonte Springs, FL
32701-5434
I suggest ALL OF YOU take a few seconds out of your busy lives and write him, a TRUE LIVING AMERICAN HERO, and let him know that he is appreciated for the sacrifices he's made for this great country!
p.s. - thanks Muggler for posting the video - I jumped several times while in the army (Airborne, thanks), but this shit woulda scared the ever-lovin' piss outta me.
He has done a lot more than you think...
Kittinger was a part of Project Excelsior (meaning "ever upward"). For this project, those who went up would take the fastest route down - by jumping out of the balloon in a pressurized suit. His first jump occurred on November 16, 1959, and was a near disaster. After jumping from an altitude of 76,000 feet, his small drag parachute malfunctioned, opening too early and catching him around the neck, causing him to spiral down in a flat spin towards Earth and lose consciousness. Luckily, his emergency automatic parachute activated at 10,000 feet, saving his life. (It was later determined he spun at a rotational velocity of 120 rpm and the G factor calculated at his extremities was over 22 times, setting another record.) THREE WEEKS LATER he successfully jumped again from 74,700 feet.
During the 1960 ascent, his right glove on his pressure suit broke, causing his hand to swell up to the size of a softball, but he didn't quit!
After the jump in 1960, he wrote a book in 1961 titled "The Long, Lonely Leap" which is now out of print (copies go for as much as $350.00).
In 1962, accompanied by an astronomer named William White, they rose to an altitude of 82,200 feet in a balloon over Holloman AFB, New Mexico and hovered for 18 and a half hours to check variations in brightness of star images caused by the atmosphere. The experiment was dubbed "Project Stargazer" (take THAT, Jean-Luc Picard!).
Kittinger volunteered for THREE combat tours in Vietnam before he himself was shot down on May 11th, 1972, after which he spent 11 months in captivity as a POW (he retired as a Colonel in 1978).
In 1983 he set a record for flying a balloon from Las Vegas to New York in under 72 hours, and in 1984 he was the FIRST to successfuly pilot a solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic (take THAT, Richard Branson!). He successfully completed the historic flight in 3 and a half days. Crash-landing in northern Italy, he set a record for the longest solo balloon flight as well as a distance record for this class of balloon.
Oh, but that's not all...
He is happily retired in his home state of Florida, working for a air circus called Molly O'Grady's, still flying in old bi-planes, still going around the nation in balloons and showing people the power of flight and space exploration, and most of all, he's doing all of this at the young age of 77!
How do I know what he's up to today? I looked around online and found a working number down in South Florida and got a hold of his wonderful wife Sherry, and she said yes, I can drop him a note anytime - and you can too! :
Col. Joseph Kittinger, Jr.
608 Mariner Way
Altamonte Springs, FL
32701-5434
I suggest ALL OF YOU take a few seconds out of your busy lives and write him, a TRUE LIVING AMERICAN HERO, and let him know that he is appreciated for the sacrifices he's made for this great country!
p.s. - thanks Muggler for posting the video - I jumped several times while in the army (Airborne, thanks), but this shit woulda scared the ever-lovin' piss outta me.
Remember when astronauts were cool? Now they all look like they got lost on the way to a chess club meeting.