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Joe Kittinger's 1960 Skydive from an Altitude of 31 km

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almond13

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The Real First Man In Space
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/ ... 6715.shtml
Not Astronaut; Test Pilot Went Up Via Balloon In 1960, Then Jumped Out


(Page 1 of 2)
April 13, 2006
(CBS) Talk about one giant leap for mankind!

Few people know it, but the first man in space wasn't an astronaut. It was test pilot Joe Kittinger.

In 1960, the little-known pioneer was part of an U.S. Air Force project called Excelsior, which was designed to test the effects of space on human beings — and, more important, to determine whether an astronaut could survive an aborted mission, even at 20 miles above the earth.

Kittinger had the right stuff. He traveled all the way into space via balloon — then jumped out.

"I turned over and I looked, and I could see the balloon flying into space. And then I realized the balloon was standing still and that was me that was flying straight down. Going very fast!" Kittinger told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.

What was his last thought before he leaped?

"Well," Kittinger said, "I just said a prayer. I said: 'Lord, take care of me now.' It was the most fervent prayer I ever said in my life."

Kittinger's historic leaps were big news back in 1960. Life magazine did a huge spread. But Kittinger's death-defying acts soon were eclipsed by rocket-propelled space flight. He quickly became a footnote in the space race.

"Remember," Kittinger pointed out. "We didn't have the PR that NASA had."

A trained fighter and test pilot, Kittinger later volunteered for combat missions in Vietnam. He flew a mind-boggling 483 combat missions during three tours.
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With Moon Hoax posts in mind, what interested me about this was that he said that he saw no stars. :shock:
 
Yes, I would think the stars would be the first thing and the most fantastic thing you would never forget to mention!

And this is the most fantastic story! I have never heard of this or dreamed it was possible!
AMAZING!
 
I'm only guessing, but presumably for safety's sake he would have taken off and landed in the daytime, so even on the edge of space, the brightness of the Earth would make the stars invisible.

That's not very scientific, I know - it's just a gut feeling, and I don't think it does much to prove or disprove Moon hoax theories.
 
Sorry, but that article is misinformation/propaganda. Kittinger reached a height of 31km, which is some way short of the US definition of space (80km), let alone the internationally-accepted mark of 100km. The honour of first man in space instead lies with Yuri Gagarin (or Vladimir Ilyushin, if you're inclined to believe that story...).
 
This thread is rapidly becoming a contender for the "conspiracy" forum! Mods?
 
There's a lovely piece on him in the BBC series The Planets. Quite a chap and still crop dusting I believe.
 
Cropdusting by parachute from 20 miles up, just to keep his hand in? :p
 
Peripart said:
I'm only guessing, but presumably for safety's sake he would have taken off and landed in the daytime, so even on the edge of space, the brightness of the Earth would make the stars invisible.
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Actually, flying up high enough to see the stars in daytime was quite common amongst people working on the space programme. Chuck Yeager describes doing it in his autobiography. Even though they needed modified trainer aircraft with rocket thrusters for maneouvering at this altitude due to the sparse atmosphere (which is also why the stars were visible, the sunlight hasn't been scattered enough), it wasn't considered "space" in any real sense.

The important thing is that just because he wasn't really "in space" doesn't lessen his achievement. What he did was remarkable, and I believe was also valuable in researching for the space program.
 
If you haven't seen the footage of his jump before there's a clip from the Discovery Channel documentary on Google vids: First man in space.
 
It is very impressive. At 31km, the atmospheric pressure is down to 1% - and it looks like space with a black sky. Still, I think the Russian definition of space (100 miles high?) is the correct one because you can't orbit lower than that without atmospheric drag downing the spacecraft inside a few days.
 
The international definition of 'space' is at 100 km: -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karman_line

But, "U.S. authorities define the boundary to space to lie at a height of 50 miles (about 80 km) above mean sea level, about where the mesosphere ends. This definition is thought by some to be outdated, and is not commonly accepted internationally."

Either way, this impressive feat still doesn't get anywhere close to actual space.
 
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