• Close-up view of the large gondola of an air balloon with a light and dark colored base.
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    In this pressurized balloon gondola, on November 11, 1935, Capt. Albert Stevens and Capt. Orvil Anderson of the U.S. Army Air Corps reached 72,395 feet, a world altitude record that would stand for 20 years.The Explorer II balloon boasted a capacity of 3,700,000 cubic feet of helium. The 9-foot spherical gondola is made of welded magnesium/aluminum alloy sections, weighs 640 pounds, and can carry a payload of 1,500 pounds.

  • Close-up view of the large gondola of an air balloon with a light and dark colored base.

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A-4423-F

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National Air and Space Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution

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