RE/MAX Satellite Network-Produced Film on Col. Joe Kittinger Cleans Up in Contests

A RE/MAX Satellite Network-produced video on Col. Joe Kittinger is making waves in the world of film and video competition.

The 22-minute production - "The First Step Into Space" - details Kittinger's career as an aviator, which included a world-record parachute jump. It has won five prestigious industry awards.

Kittinger served as a volunteer during Dave Liniger's attempted around-the-world balloon mission in 1998. He was also co-chair with Liniger of RE/MAX Balloon Celebration marking the 100th anniversary of powered flight in 2003.

FRIEND OF THE NETWORK: Joe Kittinger (left) has a long-standing relationship with RE/MAX and Co-Founder Dave Liniger

Kittinger and a small group of U.S. Air Force pilots have come to be known as the Pre-Astronauts for their exploits in the 1950s. At that time, the only way to leave the earth's atmosphere was by balloon. An ultra-thin balloon envelope was developed that could carry a human above the atmosphere.

In 1960, Kittinger volunteered to ride this balloon in an open-air gondola and jump out. Wearing a pressure suit and carrying a special parachute that opened automatically, Kittinger leaped out of the gondola from 102,800 feet - in temperatures 100 below zero - and arrived safely on earth.

During his career he took part in five high-altitude balloon launches.

Innovations during the high-altitude balloon era later became important during the space race. Among them were a space capsule, hardware and communication and telemetry systems.

Kittinger served three tours of duty in Vietnam as a fighter pilot, shooting down one Russian MiG. He himself was shot down on his 485th mission, just one week before he was scheduled to go home. He spent 11 months in the Hanoi Hilton prison and afterward returned to ballooning. In 1984 he became the first solo balloon pilot to cross the Atlantic and set what was then a world record for distance. He won the international Gordon Bennett Cup balloon race three consecutive years.

Kittinger has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and the National Aviation Hall of Fame. He was named as one of the 100 most important aviators in history.

The video, which includes interviews with astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong, is shown by the iNHD network, a network created by several cable companies that is available to subscribers with high-definition TVs.

Copyright © 2006 RE/MAX International Inc. 8/29/06