- Auguste Piccard
Infobox_Scientist
name = Auguste Piccard
image_width = 200px
caption = Auguste Piccard in 1927
birth_date = birth date|1884|1|28
birth_place =Basel ,Switzerland
death_date = death date and age|1962|3|24|1884|1|28
death_place =Lausanne ,Switzerland
residence =
nationality = Swiss
field =physics ,inventor ,explorer
work_institution =Free University of Brussels (nowUniversité Libre de Bruxelles andVrije Universiteit Brussel )
alma_mater = Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for =
prizes =
religion =
footnotes =Auguste Antoine Piccard (
January 28 ,1884 –March 24 ,1962 ) was a Swissphysicist ,inventor andexplorer . Piccard and his twin brother Jean Felix were born inBasel ,Switzerland . Showing an intense interest in science as a child, he attended the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and became a professor ofphysics inBrussels at theFree University of Brussels (now split into theUniversité Libre de Bruxelles and theVrije Universiteit Brussel ) in 1922, the same year his sonJacques Piccard was born. He was a member of the Solvay Congress of 1927.Career
In 1930, an interest in
ballooning , and a curiosity about the upper atmosphere led him to design a spherical, pressurized aluminum gondola that would allow ascent to great altitude without requiring a pressure suit. Supported by the Belgian Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) Piccard constructed his gondola.On
May 27 ,1931 , Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer took off fromAugsburg ,Germany , and reached a record altitude of 15,785 m (51,775 ft). During this flight, Piccard was able to gather substantial data on theupper atmosphere , as well as measure cosmic rays. OnAugust 18 ,1932 , launched fromDübendorf , Switzerland, Piccard and Max Cosyns made a second record-breaking ascent to 16,200 m (53,152 ft). He ultimately made a total of twenty-seven balloon flights setting a final record of 23,000 m (72,177 ft).In the mid-1930s, Piccard's interests shifted when he realized that a modification of his high altitude balloon cockpit would allow descent into the deep ocean. By 1937, he had designed a small steel gondola to withstand great external pressure. Construction began, but was interrupted by the outbreak of World War Two. Resuming work in 1945, he completed the bubble-shaped cockpit that maintained normal air pressure for a person inside the capsule even as the water pressure outside increased to over 6,800 pounds per square inch. Above the heavy steel capsule, a large flotation tank was attached and filled with a low density liquid for buoyancy. Liquids are relatively incompressable and can provide buoyancy that does not change as the pressure increases. And so, the huge tank was filled with gasoline, not as a fuel, but as flotation. To make the now floating craft sink, tons of iron were attached to the float with a release mechanism to allow resurfacing. This craft was named
FNRS-2 and made a number of unmanned dives in 1948 before being given to theFrench navy in 1950.cite journal |author=Brand, V |title=Submersibles - Manned and Unmanned. |journal=South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society journal |volume=7 |issue=3 |year=1977 |issn=0813-1988 |oclc=16986801 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/6154 |accessdate=2008-07-10 ] There, it was redesigned, and in 1954, it took a man safely down 4,176 m (13,700 ft).With the experience of FNRS-2 Piccard and his son Jacques built the improved
Bathyscaphe Trieste . Jacques Piccard made many dives, mainly offItaly , from 1954 on, before selling her to the U.S. Navy in 1957 for $250,000. On her 65th dive, the younger Piccard and Lt. Don Walsh of the U.S. Navy reached a depth 35,800 ft in theMariana Trench , a few hundred miles fromGuam , setting a new record. Jacques' book "Seven Miles Down" tells the full story of the FNRS-2 and Trieste.Auguste Piccard died 1962 in
Lausanne , Switzerland. His grandsonBertrand Piccard also became a balloonist, taking part in the first world circumnavigation.Other helium balloon projects
Similar projects were performed later by the US-military in order to determine the impact of cosmic radiation on human. The knowledge gathered in these pre-space projects was valuable for following NASA projects in which humans were sent into orbit.
Project Manhigh involved three flights in 1957 and 1958. InProject Excelsior a test pilot jumped out of the gondola in a pressure suit with a specially designed parachute system. Three jumps were made: In November 1959Joseph Kittinger jumped from an altitude of 76,400 feet (23,300 m); in December 1959 he jumped from 74,800 feet (22,800 m); and the last jump in 1960 set the still-standing world record for the longest free-fall from an altitude of 102,800 feet (31,300 m).Piccard family
* Auguste Piccard (physicist, aeronaut, balloonist, hydronaut)
**Jacques Piccard (hydronaut)
***Bertrand Piccard (aeronaut, balloonist)
****Sarah Piccard (great-granddaughter of Auguste)
* Jean Felix Piccard (organic chemist, aeronaut, and balloonist)
**Jeannette Piccard (wife of Jean Felix) (aeronaut and balloonist)
***Don Piccard (balloonist)Trivia
* Auguste Piccard was the inspiration for
Professor Cuthbert Calculus (French: " _fr. Professeur Tryphon Tournesol", Dutch: " _nl. Professor Zonnebloem", German: " _de. Professor Bienlein", Spanish: " _es. Profesor Tornasol", Arabic: "بروفيسور برجل") in "The Adventures of Tintin " by Belgian cartoonistHergé .:This connection was confirmed by Hergé in an interview with Numa Sadoul "Calculus is a reduced scale Piccard, as the real chap was very tall. He had an interminable neck that sprouted from a collar that was much too large... I made Calculus a mini-Piccard, otherwise I would have had to enlarge the frames of the cartoon strip." [Horeau , Yves " The Adventures of Tintin at Sea" 1999, English translation 2004 for the National Maritime Museum, Published by John Maurray , ISBN 0719561191 . Chapter on Outside characters drawn into the Adventures.] :Piccard held a teaching appointment in Brussels where Hergé spotted his unmistakeable figure in the street.
*
Gene Roddenberry named CaptainJean-Luc Picard in "" for one or both of the twin brothers Auguste and Jean Felix Piccard, and derived "Jean-Luc Picard" from their names.cite web | author= University of California, Berkeley et al. [and informal sources on Jean Piccard talk page] | title= Living With A Star: 3: Balloon/Rocket Mission: Scientific Ballooning | publisher=University of California et al. | publisher= The Regents of the University of California | year= 2003 | url= http://ds9.ssl.berkeley.edu/LWS_GEMS/3/scien.htm and cite web | author= Piccard, Elizabeth | title= Talk of the Nation: Science on Stage | publisher= National Public Radio | date=January 23 2004 | url= http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1614132 | accessdate= 2007-01-29]*Auguste Piccard was also left-handed
Notes
External links
* [http://www.balloonlife.com/9707/piccard.htm Don Piccard - 50 Years of Ballooning Memories]
* [http://www.sbszoo.com/bear/sable/sable3.htm#payload The view from a high altitude balloon]
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