Charles and Roberts' hydrogen balloon, 1783. Illustration of the balloon used in the first manned flight of a hydrogen balloon. The flight took place on 1 December 1783. French aeronauts Jacques Charles (1746-1823) and Noel Robert made the first manned (free flight) ascent in a hydrogen balloon, designed by Charles, a physics professor, and constructed by Robert and his brother Jean. It took off in front of a crowd of 400,000, landing two hours later over 43 kilometres away. Robert alighted there but Charles re-ascended in the balloon, reaching an altitude of over 2.7 kilometres.