I was half watching Discovery this morning and the
was the usual 'space' stuff was on and my attention was grabbed
when the narrator suggested that 'for all intents and purposes'
Joseph Kittinger was the first man in space.
(Who!?)
Not only that, he did something mindblowing for the mission...
This is the snippet I saw:

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-369888...d%22+playable%3Atrue

I never heard of this guy before and after reading his page on Wiki
I have to say he has lived some life!
Check it out!
Legend!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger#Articles_about_Kittinger

Nevr heard of that guy before either Frank.
Interesting story though.
30km is preytty high alright, a bit higher than the fighter aircraft which are normally limited to about 20km.
However, I think space is considered to be at 100km.
From looking at the video though, it certainly *looks* like low earth orbit.

Michael.

There are a few talks on utube worth watching by him.
Very interesting stuff.
NASA have a lot to be thankfull for that these brave
Men did what they did back then.
Hes in his 80's and is still going strong.
That breed of explorer who risks it all for the sake of science
Is becoming an endangered species.
Although poor Dave L may beg to differ
(hows the foot Dave?)

Hi Frank there is a dvd series on space i have and it takes you through the different topics kittinger was in the atmosphere section and it takes you through his mission going up in his gondola and filming it all the way through stepping off at the height that he did a very brave man well worth watching.


jonathan.

Cool.
What's it called?

The Planets dvd do an amazon search a brilliant series.

jonathan.

Barberskum wrote:

(hows the foot Dave?)

broken bones heal, broken mirrors are forever
so I dont feel so bad
(I didnt have an accident with the scope, just an injury from an non-astronomical event).

I see that DVD is in Tesco, I must pick it up.
I saw it on Discovery some time back but it's definatly one for the collection alright.

Joe Kittinger was featured in an issue of Focus magazine 2 years ago. Some of the stuff that man did was amazing. Some of the interview was with him. Worth a read if you want to know more.

Seanie.

Nice interview with Kittinger himself (and some superb footage):



His last words before he jumped? 'Lord, take care of me now".

Masterfully understated request.

Thanks Seanie I will look it up.
Brian, the clip there is a good watch thanks for posting.

Thanks for the clip Brian. He never mentioned what his hand felt like after! Anyone care to guess?

Seanie.