Among parachutists, nobody occupies so high a standing as Joseph Kittinger. On Aug. 16, 1960 Kittinger, then a captain in the U.S. Air Force, rode a helium balloon to the edge of space–19.5 miles up. Breathing compressed oxygen and wearing only a standard high-altitude pressure suit and a parachute, he leaned over the gondola and jumped.
In the 110-degree-below-zero, near-vacuum of space, Kittinger accelerated to 714mph, breaking the sound barrier.
After free-falling for more than four and a half minutes, he felt himself slowed by the friction of a gradually thickening atmosphere. At 14,000 feet his chute opened automatically, and he floated to a gentle landing in the New Mexico desert.
The feat showed scientists of the nascent U.S. space program that an astronaut could survive in space with just a pressure suit and that a man could exit a vehicle at extreme altitudes and live. When Kittinger got back to base, a congratulatory telegram was waiting for him from Alan Shepard, John Glenn and the other Mercury Seven astronauts–none of whom had yet gone into space.
The world records Kittinger set–highest parachute jump and only man to break the sound barrier without an aircraft–still stand. In 1997 the now-75-year-old was inducted into the the Aviation Hall of Fame. (For an interview with Kittinger, visit www.forbes.com/adventurer.)
Back to article.