A Fatal Balloon Ascent in France Thermometers , barometers , Davy lamps , respiratory apparatuses and much else was in the car of the ' Zenith ' , which rose to a height of over five miles , after M. Croce-Spinelli had thrown out an instrument called ' the Aspirateur ' , weighing 80 pounds . The consequent much too rapid ascent caused the death of two of the three balloonists . 1875