two o’clock
Twenty-four hours hence and the balloon , with its large living freight , would be high in the air . The atmosphere was less buoyant than that of the earth , but no difficulty in ascending was to be apprehended . Gallia was now within 96,000,000 miles of the sun , consequently not much more than 4,000,000 miles from the earth ; and this interval was being diminished at the rate of nearly 208,000 miles an hour , the speed of the earth being about 70,000 miles , that of the comet being little less than 138,000 miles an hour . It was determined to make the start at two o'clock , three-quarters of an hour , or , to speak correctly 42 minutes 35.6 seconds , before the time predicted by the professor as the instant of collision . The modified rotation of the comet caused it to be daylight at the time . An hour previously the balloon was inflated with perfect success , and the car was securely attached to the network . It only awaited the stowage of the passengers .