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Der Schweizer Wissenschaftler Auguste Piccard steht vor dem naechtlichen Start seines zweiten Fluges mit einem Ballon in die Stratosphaere, am 18. August 1932 in Duebendorf, Schweiz, auf seiner Gondel und richtet die Seile. Piccard wird auf seinem Flug von dem belgischen Physiker Max Cosyns begleitet. (KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV/Es) Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard stands on the gondola and sets the ropes before the take-off of his second balloon flight to the stratosphere, pictured in Duebendorf, Switzerland, on August 18, 1932. A Belgian physicist accompanies Piccard on his flight. Piccard made a record-breaking ascent to 16'200 m on August 18, 1932. 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)