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MILESTONES KATALOG Der Wissenschaftler Auguste Piccard bei seinem zweiten Aufstieg in die Stratosphaere in der Gondel seines Ballons, aufgenommen am 18. August 1932 in Duebendorf, Schweiz. (KEYSTONE/IBA-Archiv/Str) Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard in the gondola of his balloon on the occasion of his second balloon flight to the stratosphere on the airfield in Duebendorf, Switzerland, pictured on August 18, 1932. Piccard was accompanied by a Belgian physicist. They reached a record 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/IBA-Archiv/Str)