An evening with Col. Joe Kittinger

On August 16 1960, a brave soldier stood up from the edge of his seat at an altitude of 102,800 feet. Below his step are the words: "This is the highest step in the world". With a pressure suit and gears twice his weight, he gazed at something that could have only been spectacular. With the curvature of the earth in his view and at a distance close to the heavens, he had one job to do: TO JUMP. With his faith bestowed in the Gods above, he stepped off from the top of the world returning to his planet at a blazing velocity of 614 mph. 

53 years later, in one of the coldest dusk, there he was in my sights at the National Air Force Museum, Dayton, Ohio. I could not believe what I saw. In the middle of the hangar filled with airplanes, there he was accompanied by two American heroes, Arthur Thomson (Redbull stratos technical project director,  Felix Baumgartner's earliest collaborator, pioneering Aerospace Engineer who was involved in the design of B-2 stealth aircraft and a creative artist who created the Batmobile in the Batman movie!) and Dr. Jonathan Clark (A six-time space shuttle crew surgeon who served top roles at NASA Johnson Space center, Naval flight officer, Naval flight surgeon, Navy diver and Special forces freefall parachutist.)

In an hour questionnaire with the two American heroes and one American legend, they revealed the history and technical difficulties behind the jump in 1960 by Col. Joe and the jump in October 14, 2012 by Felix Baumgartner. The amazing fact is that Col. Joe Kittinger's jump is purely dedicated to the advancement of science and not just to break the previous record. And so is Felix Baumgarnter's jump. To see their act of bravery as a dedication to science rather than a stunt, is a whole another realization for me. Col. Joe Kittinger was assigned to a High altitude bailout team at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, right here in Dayton under the project titled "Project Excelsior" meaning "forever upward". Col. Kittinger did series of jumps to study the dynamics of human body when falling from high altitudes. Col. Joe and his team build a drogue chute to stabilize and reduce the rotational rate of humans when falling towards earth. In the process of experimentation, Col. Joe almost lost his life and put himself at risk several times for a greater cause. As a student of experimental Aerodynamics class, I could not help but wonder the process of the experimentation involved in solving a problem which can be as big and as risky as these brave people undertook. In the end of the talk, Col. Joe Kittinger specifically mentioned that it is because of the invention of the drogue chute and the research involved, Felix's jump became successful. It taught me that what we do as engineers will definitely pay off in the future and it might even make a difference.

I went home that night from the museum enchanted. But that night was merely a prelude to what came the other day. Thanks to the efforts taken by my advisor, Dr. Aaron Altman, I had an opportunity to hear Col. Joe Kittinger, Mr. Art Thompson and Dr. Jonathan Clark talk again at my university (University of Dayton). I had an opportunity of a life time to shake hands with the legends and introduce myself and get an autograph in a collage of Col Joe's pictures that I put together. Meeting him in person is the amazing experience in my entire life. For a man of such high achievements, he was the most humble human being I have ever seen. When he talked, with his wisdom and his innocence, I saw a perfect example of what a human being should be. After his talk at the auditorium, me and my friends Mr. Santhosh and Mr. Oman Memon stayed back to be in his presence. We had very good conversation with Col Joe personally and also with Mr. Art and Dr. Clark and we heard several stories about space shuttle missions and crew, the U-2 flight crew and the challenges they faced (especially Decompression sickness (DCS)) and so on. In all that time I could think only of one thing about Col. Joe: "What an incredible human being". And soon after, we found ourselves walking with him and the Redbull team towards Kettering Labs (Engineering Building) to show them our Merlin Flight Simulator.

Col. Joe, Mr. Art Thompson and Dr. Clark was very excited to see the Flight simulator. One of our student technicians Mr. Ted Lannert loaded a redbull racer in the simulator for Col. Joe to fly. Col. Joe, climbed up the stairs and sat in the simulator cockpit to give us the amazing sight ever. "Col. Joe Kittinger in our Flight Simulator". Everyone in the room took a mental picture of that scene which will be in our memory forever. After spending a good amount of time in the simulator, Col. Joe, Mr. Art Thompson and Dr. Jonathan Clark shook our hands for the last time and thanked us for the experience and went their way with a promise to make history worth remembering and to inspire generations to come. 

What an incredible evening! I went home that night with a memory which I will cherish forever through the ages and with an everlasting inspiration to achieve great things in life. Not for the personal agenda but for greater cause, to be a part of something meaningful, to contribute to the development of science and engineering, to be humble, to be brave, to kneel on this God given earth and to raise my arms skyward to be free from fears, to be free from doubts and to be free from anything that might hold me back, to follow in the foot steps of the legend, Col. Joe Kittinger... 

"What each must seek in his life never was on land or sea. It is something out of his own unique potentiality for experience, something that never has been and never could have been experienced by anyone else." 

- Joesph Campbell