He held the world record for the highest skydiveβ, feet He participated in the Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior high-altitude balloon flight projects from to and was the first man to fully witness the curvature of the Earth.
He was later shot down as well, subsequently spending 11 months as a prisoner of war in a North Vietnamese prison before he was repatriated in In , he became the first person to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon.
In , Kittinger participated in the Red Bull Stratos project as capsule communicator at age 84, directing Felix Baumgartner on his mile 39 km freefall from Earth's stratosphere , which broke Kittinger's own year-old record. Felix Baumgartner's record would be broken two years later by Alan Eustace.
He became fascinated with planes at a young age and soloed in a Piper Cub by the time he was After racing speedboats as a teenager, he entered the U. Air Force as an aviation cadet in March On completion of aviation cadet training in March , he received his pilot wings and a commission as a second lieutenant. Kittinger was impressed by Stapp's dedication and leadership as a pioneer in aerospace medicine. Stapp, in turn, was impressed with Kittinger's skillful jet piloting, later recommending him for space-related aviation research work.
Stapp was to foster the high-altitude balloon tests that would later lead to Kittinger's record-setting leap from over , feet 31, m. In , as part of Project Manhigh , Kittinger set an interim balloon altitude record of 96, feet 29, m in Manhigh I , for which he was awarded his first Distinguished Flying Cross.
