What is Joseph Kittinger famous for?

Colonel Joseph William Kittinger II was a Command Pilot in the United States Air Force (USAF).

He was famous for setting a world record for the highest skydive: 102,800 feet (31.3 km) on August 16, 1960. Tampa, Florida, U.S.

He was the first man to fully witness the curvature of the Earth. He was also the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon in 1984.

Joseph Kittinger shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-21 jet fighter as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. Later, he was shot down himself, and he spent 11 months as a prisoner of war in a North Vietnamese prison before being repatriated in 1973.

Kittinger retired as a colonel from the Air Force in 1978. In 1997, Kittinger was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.

Kittinger accumulated 7,679 flying hours in the U.S. Air Force, including 948 combat flying hours during three tours during the Vietnam War. In addition, he has flown over 9,100 hours in various civilian aircraft.