The Real First Man In Space

Not Astronaut; Test Pilot Went Up Via Balloon In 1960, Then Jumped Out

(CBS) 

On that 483rd mission, flying at twice the speed of sound, "The world's greatest fighter pilot on the other side shot me down … and I ejected at Mach-1, at about 18,000 feet," he said. "I landed and was immediately captured, and I spent the next 11 months at the 'Hanoi Hilton,'" the infamous torture chamber that housed dozens of American POWs, including Sen. John McCain.

After retiring from the Air Force, Kittinger went back to flying balloons. In 1984, he became the first person to fly a balloon solo across the Atlantic, going from Maine to Italy in 83 hours and setting four world records in the process.

French adventurer and retired paratrooper Michel Fournier is trying to break Kittinger's longstanding record for heights from which someone fell safely to Earth. He's been preparing for 20 years.

Two other jumpers have died trying to break Kittinger's record. Some people think Fournier is crazy. He sold everything he owns and spent $10 million — and has failed twice.

While Kittinger's record is important, Fournier also wants to prove something: that an escape system on the space shuttle would have been able to save the lives of the Columbia astronauts.

Says Fournier, "When you present the project and present the scientific aspect, that this project is for the rescue of astronauts, we start to see, 'OK, this project is not that crazy. It's doable, and Joe Kittinger did it.'"

Kittinger has been waiting for someone to break his record. "I really thought that somebody would go higher than that pretty soon," he said with a chuckle. "It's been 46 years. It's not easy to do."

For complete details about Fournier's project, click here.