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Snapshot
October 02, 2009
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Balloon Man
On October 1, 2009, balloonist Brian Jones, pilot of the Breitling Orbiter, and National Air and Space Museum Preservation Specialist Anne McCombs, hold onto a strap inside the Explorer II gondola, which set a world altitude record of 72,400 feet in 1935. McCombs is one of the Museum's specialists who are restoring the Explorer II. Jones returned to the Museum for the tenth anniversary of his flight around the world in the Breitling Orbiter. The famous balloon's gondola now resides in the Milestones of Flight gallery with other icons including the Spirit of St. Louis, the sound-barrier-busting X-1 rocketplane, and the Apollo 11 command module.
Photo: Eric Long
