Zenith balloon ascent, April 1875. Journalist Joseph Eustache Croce-Spinelli (1845-1875), naval officer Henri Theodore Sivel (1834-1875), and French author and scientist Gaston Tissandier (1843-1899) in the basket of the balloon Zenith after losing consciousness due to lack of oxygen after reaching an altitude of nearly 28,000 feet (8600 metres) near Paris, France, in April 1875. Croce-Spinelli and Sivel never regained consciousness and died during this ascent. Tissandier survived, but became deaf.