image
Der Schweizer Wissenschaftler Auguste Piccard, Mitte links, und der belgische Physiker Max Cosyns, in der Kapsel, am 18. August 1932 in Duebendorf, Schweiz, vor ihrem Start zum zweiten Stratosphaerenflug. Piccard und Cosyns stellten an diesem Tag mit ueber 16'000 Metern einen neuen Hoehenrekord auf. (KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV/Es) Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard, center left, and Belgian physicist Max Cosyns, in the gondola, before the take-off for the record balloon flight to the stratosphere, pictured on the airfield of the airport in Duebendorf, Switzerland, on August 18, 1932. It is Piccard's second flight to the stratosphere. They reached an altitude of 16'200 m. Auguste Piccard (1884-1962) was a physicist, inventor and explorer. An interest in ballooning and a curiosity about the upper atmosphere led him to design and construct a spherical, pressurized aluminum gondola which would allow him to ascend to great altitude without requiring a pressure suit in 1930. Piccard and a Belgian engineer reached a record altitude of 15'785 m on May 27, 1931. During this flight, Piccard was able to gather substantial data on the stratosphere. In the mid-1930s, Piccard's interests shifted when he realized that a modification of some of his atmospheric balloon concepts would allow to descend into the deep ocean and he designed a small steel gondola to withstand great external pressure. Piccard and his son built the improved Bathyscaphe Trieste in 1953. (KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV/Es)