The original Man who fell to Earth dies

[John Wall]

Joe Kittinger pioneering sky diver dies at 94

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/u...nger-dead.html

Another one with “The Right Stuff”
RIP

[Qatar-wol]

Some nice footage at the start of this music video. The song always makes me think of Kittinger.

https://youtu.be/A2zKARkpDW4

[RustyBin5]

An original daredevil RIP. Not sure why but this image of another hero came to mind when I read this
I feel physically I’ll looking at Fred’s nonchalance.

[CardShark]

Some nice footage at the start of this music video. The song always makes me think of Kittinger.

https://youtu.be/A2zKARkpDW4

I've been listening to Boards of Canada (the two guys behind the name are Scottish) for years now, that's a great music video.

Despite three longer in physical length and higher jumps since Kittinger's last jump in 1960 it's that one that still holds the record for the longest time in free fall. I watched Baumgartner's attempt at the highest free fall live and remember the part that the pioneer played, Baumgartner's record was beaten a couple of years later by ex-Google top bod Alan Eustace though, probably because it didn't have the same heavy hitting sponsorship behind it, barely anyone knows!

[Dazzler]

Saddened by this, quite a life. Some crazy stuff done in the fifties/sixties.

Excelsior I: Kittinger's first high-altitude jump, from about 76,400 feet (23,300 m) on November 16, 1959, was a near-disaster when an equipment malfunction caused him to lose consciousness.[8] The automatic parachute opener in his equipment saved his life. He went into a flat spin at a rotational velocity of about 120 rpm, the g-forces at his extremities having been calculated to be over 22 times the force of gravity, setting another record.

Good grief, a 22g spin.