Joseph William Kittinger II on August 16, 1960 made a jump from a hot air balloon(called Excelsior III) at 102,800 feet.He fell for 14 minutes and 36 seconds (before reaching earth) reaching a maximum speed of 714 mph before opening his parachute at 14,000 feet. Pressurization for his right glove malfunctioned during the ascent, and his right hand swelled to twice its normal size.He set records for highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump, longest drogue-fall (14 min), and fastest speed by a human through the atmosphere.
Related Articles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Excelsior.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,939169,00.html.
Very cool but very stupid. Did his hand ever go back to normal?
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