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1860s
In the civil war, union troops, like the french army befor them, used balloons to spy behind enemy lines to see how battles were going. -
1875
Three french scientist, exploring the atmosphere, soared to 25,000 feet in a balloon. The men took bottles of oxygenwith them, but when the balloon landed only one scientist survived. -
1900s
The early 1900s brought dirigible, or blimps. Made of several balloons, it was fitted with motors and propellers that let the piolet steer. A cabin on the underside held more than 100 people on Atlantic crossings. -
1932
The man who invented a way to travel safely high into the atmosphere was a swiss name Auguste Piccard, who built a ball shaped aluminum gondola. Sealed inside with oxgen tanks, he safely reached a height of 54,ooo feet. -
1961
Brave men keep going higher. Two u.s. navy officers, Malcolm D. and Victor Pather, Jr.,went up 113,740 feet in an open gondola to test space suits for astronauts. -
1999
Others had crossed the oceans, but Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones were the first to balloon non-stop around the world, covering 30,000 miles in 20 days. Their balloon was a cross between a hot air balloon and gas balloon. -
2015
Planes have long been the way to travel by air, but you often see a dirigible carrying a TV above a football game or other sports events. -
2015
Hundreds of small weather balloons explore the atmosphere and transmint their findings to Earth.