雅克·皮卡德

家族

奥居斯特·皮卡尔：其父。瑞士物理学家、发明家和探险家。

贝特朗·皮卡尔：其子。瑞士精神科医师、冒险家及热气球运动员。

Jacques Piccard (28 July 1922 – 1 November 2008) was a Swiss oceanographer and engineer, known for having developed submarines for studying ocean currents. In the Challenger Deep, on 23 January 1960 he and Lieutenant Don Walsh of the United States Navy were the first people to explore the deepest known part of the world's ocean, and the deepest known location on the surface of Earth's crust, the Mariana Trench, located in the western North Pacific Ocean.

Family life

Jacques Piccard was born in Brussels, Belgium, the son of Auguste Piccard, who was himself an adventurer and engineer. Jacques' father Auguste twice beat the record for reaching the highest altitude in a balloon, during 1931–1932. The Piccard family thus had the unique distinction of breaking world records for both the highest flight and the deepest dive.

Jules Piccard (professor of chemistry)

Auguste Piccard (physicist, aeronaut, balloonist, hydronaut)

Jacques Piccard (hydronaut)

Bertrand Piccard (aeronaut, balloonist)

Jean Felix Piccard (organic chemist, aeronaut, and balloonist)

Jeannette Piccard (wife of Jean Felix) (aeronaut and balloonist)

Don Piccard (balloonist)

Jacques's father, who had already set altitude records in his balloon, started using the buoyancy technique used in balloons for developing a submersible vehicle, the bathyscaphe.……

Challenger Deep mission

Jacques sought financial help from the U.S. Navy, which at that time was exploring various ways of designing submarines for underwater research. Jacques was welcomed to the U.S. to demonstrate his bathyscaphe, now named the Trieste. Impressed by his designs, the U.S. Navy bought the vessel and hired Piccard as a consultant. Recognizing the strategic value of a workable submersible for submarine salvage and rescue, the Navy began testing the Trieste for greater depths.

With his Trieste able to reach depths of 24,000 feet, Piccard and his colleagues planned an even greater challenge:—a voyage to the bottom of the sea. On 23 January 1960, Piccard and Lt. Don Walsh reached the floor of the Mariana Trench located in the western North Pacific Ocean. The depth of the descent was measured at 10,916 meters (35,813 feet); later, more accurate, measurements during 1995 found the Mariana Trench to be slightly less deep at 10,911 m (35,797 ft).……

Ben Franklin mission

On 14 July 1969, just two days before the Apollo 11 launch, the Ben Franklin, also known as the Grumman/Piccard PX-15 mesoscaphe, was towed to the high-velocity center of the Gulf Stream off the coast of Palm Beach, Florida. Once on site, the Ben Franklin with its six-man, international crew descended to 1,000 feet (300 m) off of Riviera Beach, Florida, and drifted 1,444 miles (2,324 km) north with the current for more than four weeks, surfacing near Maine.

The crew consisted of Jacques Piccard as the mission leader; Erwin Aebersold, another Swiss, as Piccard's handpicked pilot and main assistant to Piccard and project engineer during the Franklin's design and construction. Grumman selected a Navy submariner named Don Kazimir to be captain. The U.S.……

Influence and distinctions

Ambient artists Matt Ruhlmann and Celer collaboratively released an album called Mesoscaphe in 2008, dedicated to the voyage of the Ben Franklin.

He was awarded the Howard N. Potts Medal in 1972.

In 1981, Piccard became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.

On 1 February 2008, Piccard was honored Doctor honoris causa at the Catholic University of Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve).

Other activities

Piccard was the founder of the Foundation for the Study and Protection of Seas and Lakes, based in Cully, Switzerland.

Mésoscaphe Auguste Piccard, the world's first passenger submarine, built for the 1964 Swiss national exhibition

Ben Franklin (PX-15)

F.-A. Forel (PX-28)

PX-44