Utah's NASA ambassador jumps with 50-year-old parachute

Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune
NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda.

Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune
NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, who is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt points out where he had initially intended to land. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda.

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Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda. Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda. Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda. Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda. Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda. Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda. Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, who is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt points out where he had initially intended to land. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda. Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda. Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins, 66, is no stranger to the sky with about 760 jumps under his belt. On Friday the education assistant at the University of Utah donned his original 1965 "antique parachute" and gear to mark the 50th anniversary of his first jump while joining friends at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley Airport in Erda.

The Salt Lake Tribune

· May 31, 2015 10:49 am

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador Patrick Wiggins made his first skydive 50 years ago. What better way to mark the anniversary, he figured, than re-creating the jump — down to using the same parachute he bought shortly after he started jumping in 1965. He took the plunge Friday at Skydive Utah, at the Tooele Valley airport in Erda. Wiggins likens his 50-year-old parachute to an antique car: It works fine as long as it's maintained, he said. "It's a lot of fun just to be hanging around in the sky up there," said Wiggins, who plans to jump again on the 100th anniversary of his first session. He will be 116 years old at that point. "I'm vegan and I work out every day," he said. "So who knows?"