Joe Kittinger’s aviation career began in 1949 in the U.S. Air Force. He made his first jump freefall in 1955 in El Centro, CA at the Navy Test Jump School. But, he is better known as the “first man in space.” In 1960, Kittinger, B-6215, leaped from a balloon gondola at 102,800 feet, setting the unofficial altitude record. Fifty years later, the altitude record still stands. In his later career, Kittinger served three tours of duty piloting jets in the Vietnam War. He currently resides in Florida.
