Victor Prather - After The Flight

After The Flight

Shortly after Prather's death, President John F. Kennedy phoned Prather's widow, Virginia Merritt, and she arrived at the White House with her children, Marla Lee Prather and Victor A. Prather III. Kennedy posthumously awarded Victor Prather the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross for 'heroism and extraordinary achievement'. The balloonists were also awarded the 1961 Harmon Trophy for Aeronauts. The altitude record for a manned balloon flight set by Prather and Ross in 1961 is still officially recognized as unbeaten by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. The only other people in history to travel further into the stratosphere were Nicholas Piantanida (USA), who is claimed to have reached 123,800 feet (37,643 m) with his Strato Jump II balloon on February 2, 1966, and Felix Baumgartner, who has reached 128,100 feet (39 044.88 meters) on 14 October 2012 as part of the Red Bull Stratos project.