Joseph Kittinger
Military Person
1928 –
Who is Joseph Kittinger?
Joseph William Kittinger II is a retired Colonel in the United States Air Force and a USAF Command Pilot. Following his initial operational assignment in fighter aircraft, he participated in Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior in 1960, setting a world record for the longest skydive from a height greater than 31 kilometres. He was also the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon and the first human to observe the curvature of the Earth.
Serving as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, he achieved an aerial kill of a North Vietnamese MiG-21 jet fighter and was later shot down himself, spending 11 months as a prisoner of war in a North Vietnamese prison.
In 2012, at the age of 84, he participated in the Red Bull Stratos project as capsule communicator, directing Felix Baumgartner on his record-breaking 39-kilometer freefall from Earth's stratosphere, exceeding Kittinger's earlier freefall in 1960.
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- Born
- Jul 27, 1928
Tampa - Also known as
- Joseph William Kittinger II
- Red
- Spouses
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Education
- University of Florida
- Bolles School
- Lived in
- Dayton
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Joseph Kittinger." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/joseph_kittinger>.
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