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90 years ago, Auguste Piccard became the first man to travel nearly 2,000km at 15,500m altitude in a free balloon. Here is the story of his ancestor's history.
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Auguste Piccard was born on January 28, 1884 in Basel, Switzerland. Passionate about natural sciences from an early age, he published his "New Essays on the Geotropic Sensitivity of Root Tips" at the age of 19. He then continued his studies as an engineer before becoming a professor of physics at the Faculty of Applied Sciences in Brussels in 1922.
But Piccard seems passionate about the vastness of the stratosphere and the ocean depths. In fact, he was the first to use a pressurized aircraft in 1922. Then, in 1923, the engineer participated in the 12th Gordon Bennett Cup in Brussels aboard the Zürich. This cup is the oldest, most famous and most international of gas balloon races.
The years pass but Piccard’s desire to reach the stratosphere keeps growing. In 1926, he conducted the Michelson-Morlay experiment and flew at 4,500m altitude. In 1929, he submitted an unprecedented project to the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research to explore the stratosphere aboard a gas balloon. His funding request was accepted, his hydrogen-filled balloon took shape. The following year, Piccard attempted to take off aboard his brand new balloon, but the weather was not cooperative, and the project had to be postponed.
He had to wait until May 27, 1931 to attempt the experience again. And this one would not be easy: the balloon took off faster than expected, the oxygen apparatus failed, the cabin was no longer sealed and lost its oxygen, the hydrogen valve was damaged, and they had to wait for evening and the drop in temperatures to descend. Piccard and his teammate, Paul Kipfer, landed back on Earth after 17 hours of flight. They set a new record! The two men were the first living beings to reach the stratosphere, at 15,781m altitude. Auguste Piccard will receive the Legion of Honor and will be made Commander of the Order of Leopold following this feat.
But our engineer’s adventures don’t stop there. Piccard, thirsty for adventure, now seeks to discover the ocean depths. In 1945, he develops his first abyssal vessel, the bathyscaphe. Three years later, his vessel is put to sea for a first experiment. This one also won’t go smoothly. Piccard will first descend to -25m off the Cape Verde before considering unmanned sea trials, and for good reason! Several technical problems will force him to rethink the design of his bathyscaphe.
Several years later, after many tests, new vessels, and with the help of his son Jacques Piccard, they will achieve a record dive to -3,150m in 1953 and then, at the request of the United States, set a new world record in 1960 by spending nearly 10 hours at over -10,000m depth. Piccard is 76 years old.
The engineer will have emulators among his relatives. Indeed, his twin brother, Jean, was an aeronaut; his son, Jacques, will be an oceanaut; and his grandson, Bertrand, will also be an aeronaut (he will, in fact, achieve the first round-the-world flight in a balloon and he will develop and co-pilot the first Solar Impulse airplane). It must be a family thing!