Swiss-Belgian physicist Auguste Piccard (1884-1953) entering the pressurised gondola that he had designed for its first flight on 27th May 1931. The balloon and gondola carried Piccard and his assistant Paul Kipfer to a record altitude of 15.781 metres, making them the first people to enter the stratosphere. In order to reach the stratosphere Piccard had designed the gondola to be airtight, with pressurised air inside, and used a very large balloon, that didn't require to be fully inflated for take-off. During the flight they were able to gather substantial data on the upper atmosphere and measure cosmic rays. Photographed in Augsburg, Germany.