Half Staff Flag Alert | United States | January 28, 2023

Colonel Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. was a United States Air Force pilot and aviator. He is best known for his high-altitude balloon flights, including his record-breaking stratospheric balloon flight in 1960, where he became the first person to fly a balloon solo across the Atlantic Ocean. He also served in the Vietnam War and retired from the military as a Colonel. According to the New Mexico Museum of Space HistoryIn 1961, he wrote of his experiences in his book, The Long, Lonely Leap. 

Colonel Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. passed away on December 9, 2022, at the age of 94.