Member of the National Aviation Hall of Fame and Gator alumnus Col. Joe Kittinger spoke to about 400 students and faculty about his contributions to the Red Bull Stratos program Wednesday in the Reitz Union Auditorium.
Kittinger was a UF engineering student in the late 1940s. He made history when he went 102,800 feet into the stratosphere in a high-altitude balloon Aug. 16, 1960.
Throughout the last four years, Kittinger has helped the Red Bull Stratos program break his record, reaching new heights of 128,100 feet. Kittinger said it was first time someone jumped into space.
“With the media of today, the whole world was able to share in the excitement of the record,” he said.
In recognition of National Engineers Week, UF’s College of Engineering and its student chapters of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and U.S. Air Force ROTC invited Kittinger to share the highlights of the program.
“I remember watching him on the Discovery Channel when I was a little kid and thinking it was the coolest thing,” mechanical and aerospace engineering freshman Giovanni Santoro, 18, said.
External vice president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Paul Chestnut introduced Kittinger.
“It was the most amazing experience,” the 21-year-old UF aerospace engineering junior said. “He makes me want to push myself further in my goals and career.”
Even after signing hundreds of autographs and taking just as many photos, Kittinger refused to end early.
“I was honored that they wanted my autograph,” Kittinger said. “I would have waited as long as it took to speak to everyone.”
