Jeannette Ridlon Piccard was an American high-altitude balloonist, and in later life an Episcopal priest. She held the women's altitude record for nearly three decades, and according to several contemporaneous accounts was regarded as the first woman in space.
Piccard and the Century of Progress in Cadiz, Ohio, after her record-breaking flight, 1934
Jeannette reached nearly 11 miles (18 km) up into the stratosphere. Today, NASA pilots are called astronauts for reaching 50 miles (80 km).
The Piccards, University of Minnesota, 1936
Jean Felix Piccard, also known as Jean Piccard, was a Swiss-born American chemist, engineer, professor and high-altitude balloonist. He invented clustered high-altitude balloons, and with his wife Jeannette, the plastic balloon. Piccard's inventions and co-inventions are used in balloon flight, aircraft and spacecraft.
Jean Piccard visiting Brigham Young University in 1938
Jean Piccard (left) with his brother Auguste (right) during World War I