Obnoxious Droppings

A Former Sgt in the US Marines, US Army and Australian Federal Police - With an Attitude Problem - Looking at the Shits & Giggles of life from a Quasi-Conservative Point of View * * * WARNING! STRONG LANGUAGE FOLLOWS! * * *

20 April, 2005

Talk About Cojones!

Does the name Joe Kittinger mean anything to you? It should.

As a Captain in the Air Force he took part in something called the Excelsior Project, where he rode in a helium balloon to a height of 102,800 feet above the ground. That's past the edge of our atmospheric envelope. It's also around -110 degrees there. Joe Kittinger was wearing a thin flight suit as his only protection.

Shows some balls, don't it? Ain't nuthin compared to his next trick - he jumped out of the gondola of the balloon at that height! Within 22 seconds of his jump, his body reached 714 miles per hour. For those who don't know, that's the sound barrier. He broke the sound barrier without an aircraft and lived! His 'chute opened around 14,000 feet after over 4 minutes of free fall and he drifted down to the New Mexico desert.

He still holds the records for highest man in a balloon and the free fall records - length of free fall and breaking the sound barrier.

He should be at least as famous as Chuck Yeager, and what he did rates comparably with Neil Armstrong. Look him up on Google -
this one is a good starting point.

I almost forgot to add this - that all took place on August 16, 1960!

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