National Geographic Explorer IIn 1934, the National Geographic Society along with the US Army Air Co

National Geographic Explorer IIn 1934, the National Geographic Society along with the US Army Air Corps sponsored the Explorer I stratospheric balloon flight.  Three adventurers, Albert Stevens, William Kepner, and Orville Anderson, ascended in the balloon to the record altitude of 60,000 feet (over 11 miles), when the unthinkable happened - the balloon began to tear!  As it began to plunge, the gondola ripped away from the balloon, rendering it exceedingly difficult for the three to don the parachutes they had brought with them.  Anderson was able to jump to safety.  Kepner was just about to jump when he saw that Anderson had become stuck in the gondola’s port hole.  He used his foot to dislodge his mate and the two were able to jump at the last moment.  All survived relatively unscathed.Undeterred, Stevens and Anderson flew in the Explorer II the following year, setting a new altitude record of 72,395 feet that would not be broken until 1951.source: National Geographic Magazine -- source link

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