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Der Schweizer Wissenschaftler Auguste Piccard in der Gondel seines Ballons. Zusammen mit dem Belgier Max Cosyns startete er am 18. August 1932 in Duebendorf, Zuerich, seinen zweiten Stratosphaerenflug, und landete einen Tag spaeter nahe Volta am Gardasee. Sie erreichten eine Rekordhoehe in der Stratosphaere von ueber 16000 Metern. Fuer ihren Flug benutzten sie eine kugelfoermige Druckkabine, die an einen riesigen Ballon gehaengt war. Ausser zahlreichen aus dieser Hoehe vorher nicht fotografierten Bildern brachten die Wissenschaftler den Beweis mit, dass es Menschen mit Hilfe von Druckkabinen moeglich ist, sich in extremen Hoehen aufzuhalten. (KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV/Str) Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard in the gondola of his balloon in Duebendorf, Switzerland, pictured in 1932. Piccard started with a Belgian physicist for his second flight to the stratosphere on August 18, 1932. They landed near Volta at the Lake Garda, Italy, a day later. Piccard reached a record altitude of 16'200 m. A globular-shaped pressure cabin hung at a huge balloon. 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/Str)