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| 1884 births | |
| 1962 deaths | |
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on the main streed of the EPFL .]] Piccard and his twin brother Jean-Felix were born in Basel , Switzerland . Showing an intense interest in science as a child, he attended the Federal Polytechnic School of Switzerland, and became a professor of Physics in Brussels at the Free University Of Brussels in 1922 , the same year his son Jacques Piccard was born. He was a member of the Solvay Congress of 1927 . In 1930 , an interest in ballooning, and a curiosity about the upper atmosphere led him to design a spherical, pressurized aluminum gondola which 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 and Paul Kipfer took off from Augsburg , Germany , and reached a record altitude of 15,785 m (51,775 ft). During this flight, Piccard was able to gather substantial data on the upper atmosphere, as well as measure cosmic rays. On August 18 , 1932 , launched from Zürich , 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 some of his atmospheric balloon concepts 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 war. Resuming work in 1945 , he completed the steel gondola for personnel and a large float was attached for buoyancy, using gasoline as the medium. To make the now floating craft sink, tons of iron were attached to the float with a release mechanism. This craft was named FNRS-2 and made a number of unmanned dives in 1948 before being given to the French Navy in 1950 . 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 off Italy , 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 the Mariana Trench , a few hundred miles from Guam , 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 grandson Bertrand Piccard also became a balloonist, taking part in the first world circumnavigation. THE PICCARD FAMILY
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