1974 Press Photo Tom Gatch stands in his gondola attached to helium balloons.

Tom Gatch, a balloonist from Fairfax County, Virginia, stands half out of his gondola doing a final check wearing a crash helmet shortly before rising skyward with 10 helium-filled balloons attached to his gondola from Harrisburg International Airport Monday night. Gatch expects to rise to 39,000 feet in his attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean and land somewhere in Europe.

Photo is dated 1974.

Photo measures 10.5 x 8 inches.