Altitude of the Highest Parachute Jump
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| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| "Ballooning." Microsoft R Encarta Online Encyclopedia. | "In 1960 Captain Joseph Kittinger of US Air Force bailed out of a polyethylene plastic balloon at 31,354 m setting a new altitude record for balloon flight and a new record for parachute descent."" | 31,354 m (1960) |
| Colonel Joe Kittinger. First Flight Society. 2004. | On August 16, 1960, he set three world records: the highest parachute jump (102,800 feet), the longest parachute free fall (4 minutes 36 seconds), and the first person to exceed the speed of sound without an aircraft or space vehicle (714 mph during free fall)." | 31,330 m (1960) |
| Holladay, April. Sky diving from the edge of space, boiling ostrich eggs. USA Today, 10 January 2003. | "On Aug. 16, 1960, Kittinger set the world's record (which remains unbroken) for the longest (19.5 miles) and fastest (4 minutes and 36 seconds) skydive. He reported his experience in National Geographic. His epic dive started from a helium balloon that he floated to an altitude of 102,800 feet (31,330 m). This high, the sky is black and the Sun intense." | 31,330 m (1960) |
| [29 August] 1960 Life Magazine Issues for Sale at 2Neat Magazines. | "Aug. 29, 1960: Cover – Joseph W. Kittinger starting his record 85,300 foot free fall before opening his parachute (great photos inside, too) - he rode up to 102,800 feet in an open gondola balloon then jumped out." | 31,330 m (1960) |
Soaring through the skies the brave parachutists dive down with the wind in their face diving down flying free like a bird, rushing through the earth's atmosphere as you plum to the ground. Awaiting the time to pull the strap passing through the clouds waiting the long ride down as time passes by the great velocity at which you drop through finally hitting the ground with such a great force. Parachuting started many years ago and now has turn into a sport which many people do and which is training for many people in the army.
About forty years ago Captain John Kittinger had parachuted from the highest altitude ever and today still holds the record for the highest parachute jump from a plastic balloon. On top of that he was the first person to come close to breaking the speed of sound as falling from the height he gained lot of velocity as he accelerated toward the earth and reached an incredible speed over six hundred mile per hours also set the record for the longest jump with a time of four minutes and thirty six seconds. His greatest accomplishment has never been able to be beaten or matched by anyone else and many years have already passed since the feat was accomplished. This requires great skill and practice as Kittinger had done for many years. So then as more than forty years have already passed it does not look as though his record will be broken any time soon.
Jerard Z. Kneifati-Hayek -- 2004
| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| Drops From an Airship 24,400 Feet Up; Landing Safely With His Parachute. New York Times. (24 Mar 1921): 1. | "Chanute Field, Rantoul, Ill., March 23.—A new world's record for parachute jumping was established today when Lieutenant Arthur G. Hamilton, one of the Air Service's crack jumpers, leaped from the cockpit of a De Haviland airplane at 24,400 feet above sea level. The pilot landed safely after drifting eight miles. The previous record was 22,000 feet, made in Texas on Feb. 22." | 7,440 m (1921) |
Editor's Supplement -- 2009
| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| Live Broadcast | Red Bull Stratos. 20:40 GMT 14, October 2012. | Exit altitude: 128,100 feet, 39,045 m; Freefall: 4 minutes 20 seconds, 19,846 feet, 36,529 m; Maximum vertical velocity: 373 m/s, 1342.8 km/h, 833.9 mph, mach 1.24 (all results unofficial) | 39,045 m |
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Editor's Supplement -- 2012
| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| Markoff, John. Parachutist's Record Fall: Over 25 Miles in 15 Minutes Alan Eustace Jumps From Stratosphere, Breaking Felix Baumgartner's World Record. New York Times. (24 October 2014). | "Alan Eustace ascending to 135,890 feet on Friday. He later plummeted to earth at speeds reaching 822 miles per hour, setting off a small sonic boom heard by people on the ground." | 41,419 m |
| Alan Eustace and the Paragon StratEx Team make stratospheric exploration history at over 135,000 feet. Paragon Space Development Corporation, 2015. | "On April 14, 2015 the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI - The World Air Sports Federation released the official parachuting world record breaking numbers. Exit Altitude
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41,422 m |
Editor's Supplement -- 2015
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