I thought by now someone would make a joke about making a thirteen mile jump from twelve miles up. Oh, well.
I remember reading about Col. Kittinger’s jump from a high altitude balloon but always thought this was research for the space program. Did he become an astronaut?
The highest jump ever recorded was on August 16, 1960, by Captain Joseph Kittinger — 102,800 feet. Kittinger suffered a partial seal failure on the way up and the reduced pressure at altitude cause his arm and hand to swell to their former sizes. Kittinger attained a speed of 614 mph during the free fall phase of his jump.
Kittinger was part of Project EXCELSIOR at Holloman AFB, New Mexico. Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger
Colonel Joe is stll a great and very active man. We all went flying in an anfib less than year ago.
His jump was part of an early pre-space exploration program. He was offered a chance to join the Mercury program, but he knew that if he had, his tiny, under-bidgeted program would suffer.