Jacques Picard, the world's deepest man, just after his feat
Jacques Piccard is a one of that personages this blog have to speak about, being with Jacques-Yves Cousteau the most famous man when speaking about the sea, and sharing with him the nickname of "King of the abyss".
Jacques Picard, one of the last great explorers, has died in Switzerland at the age of 86. Born in Bruxelles on the 28th of July 1922, the "world's deepest man", as he was also nicknamed, on board bathyscaphe Trieste, built by his father Auguste Piccard, reached with Don Walsh the ocean floor at the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest point of our planet, 10,911 m (35,797 ft) under the surface , it was the 23rd January 1960. No man after them have reached the Challenger Deep.
Jacques initially started out his career by teaching economics at University of Geneva while continuing helping his father improve the bathyscaphe to demonstrate its potential for operating in deep waters. Together they built three bathyscaphe between 1948-1955 which made records depths of 4,600 feet, 10,000 feet and the last one was brought by the government . With this success, the younger Piccard abandoned economics to collaborate with his father on further improving the bathyscaphe and demonstrating its practicality for exploration and research.
Jacques' son Bertrand Piccard is continuing his family traditions. He commanded the first flight around the world nonstop with a balloon, in March 1999 and is currently planning a a flight around the world with his solar airplane
The bathyscahpe Trieste just before the immersion on 23rd of January 1960
The cover of "Life"
The Mariana Trench and the Challenger Deep
Good Bye Jacques Piccard!
No comments:
Post a Comment