Col Joe Kittinger, who made a parachute jump from space, dies aged 94
5JC made sure we were aware of the passing of Colonel Joe Kittinger, USAF (ret). He held the parachute altitude record for more than 50 years. He most famously jumped from a balloon from more than 102,000 feet. He was later a fighter pilot over Vietnam, shooting down a MiG-21 while serving with the storied “Triple Nickle” 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was shot down himself and spent 11 months as a guest of the Hanoi Hilton.
The colonel held two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, six Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Bronze Star Medals (two w/ “V” for valor), and 24 Air Medals, among many other personal and service decorations.
Kittinger passed away yesterday at the age of 94. Fox News report.
Category: Air Force, Historical, We Remember
RIP Col.
Rest In Peace good Sir.
Airborne!
Rest Well, Sir.
Hell—original Space Force.
Word.
One bad ass motherfucker.
RIP ,,, king of jumpers
Rest in peace, Col.
An amazing man, amazing life. I bet he is looking down right now thinking; “What do you think Lord? One more time?”
Also RIP to retired RAF Squadron Leader, Johnnie Johnson, who passed away on Dec 7 at age 101. Squadron Leader Johnson was the last surviving member of Operation Chastise ‘The Dambusters’ in 1943. The Dambusters attacked German Dams using ‘bouncing bombs’ shaped like large barrels. The RAF lost 53 aircrew killed and 3 captured, with 8 aircraft destroyed. The Dambusters became cultural icons w/ a popular 1955 film made about them, influencing the 1977 Star Wars: The New Hope trench sequence, and many others. Johnson earned the Order of The British Empire, and the Distinguished Flying Medal. Rest easy, sir.
Johnny Johnson (RAF officer) – Wikipedia
*hand salute
His free fall lasted 4:30 minutes. Wow.
I bet a lot of that was at super-sonic speed.
I was thinking something similar, with minimal wind resistance pure 32 ft/sec/sec would hold true and he probably also has the record for the fastest unassisted velocity.
With stones that size, I’m surprised that it took even that long.
Per the Life Magazine article…almost 600mph.
His last jump was into Valhalla. We know it was a soft one and he was given a rousing “Welcome Home” by our very own Platoon Daddy, Jonn.
Rest Easy, Good Sir. Grateful Patriots Salute you.
Took him that long to hit the ground?
Joking, of course. Fond farewell to a true hero of the Space Age.
Any idea as to how long it might take for a balloon to get to such altitude? It’d be interesting to see the logistics and planning involved to get that high. I’m not so sure that propane would even burn in that environment.
An excellent adventure!
According to the article I read about his final jump from 102,000 feet, it took an hour and a half to reach altitude.
RIP, sir. He was one incredible man.
I asked him to sign my copy of his book a few years back. He and his wife were the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. Colonel Kittinger wrote me a long letter along with his kind signing of his book.
They don’t make ’em like him anymore.
Rest in Peace, Col.
Rest In Peace Sir, and enjoy Valhalla, you’ve earned your place there and in History.
*Slow Salute*
RIP Col., you sure earned it.