Dr. Jacques Piccard 1922-2008

[spacecat27]

In scanning various science news sites today, it was sad to see that noted Swiss inventor, engineer and explorer, Jacques Piccard, died at home in Geneva on Saturday.  He was the designer of a number of innovative submersibles, including the Trieste & Archimede series bathyscaphs, the first tourist submarine named for his father, Auguste, and the Ben Franklin which rode the Gulf Stream in the weeks surrounding the Apollo 11 landing in 1969.  His father, Auguste, was the first to ride a balloon into the stratosphere; his son, Bertrand, piloted the first successful circumnavigation of the earth in a balloon.  It is said Gene Roddenberry named his Capt. Jean-Luc Piccard after this legendary family of explorers. 

In 1960, Piccard and US Navy Lt. Don Walsh rode his Trieste I bathyscaph to the world ocean's deepest point- 10,916 meters down in the Marianas Trench..... a feat which has never been repeated.

As mentioned in the Spacecat Chronicles, I was fortunate to have met Dr. Piccard while working at the Cape in the early '70's.  He was a brilliant, friendly fellow- strikingly tall for one who spent so much time in cramped little submarines.  He was one of our last, true explorers.

[surlalune]

Oh, that's sad! RIP Dr. Piccard!

[Satanic Mechanic]

Sorry to hear about that.  I saw the Trieste III at the Naval Museum in Bremerton Washington a few years ago.

SM

[DonPMitchell]

Many people have pointed out that the exploration of the ocean depths is much neglected in comparision to the exploration of outer space.

[Johno]

I'd say both are neglected.

Don, I know (and in some respects) agree with your analysis that robot probes are the best exploration of Space, but I suspect you'd agree that we'd like to see both robot and human exploration programs given a heck of a lot more cash.  And both are just as applicable to ocean depths as to the surface of Mars.

[spacecat27]

Johno, are there still any manned submersibles in operation around Australia?  Compared to the boom in the '60's & '70's there are only a handfull still in use in the northern hemsiphere.  US Navy keeps two, plus the NR-1 for special (i.e. secret) operations, Russia still has two of the Mir class, I think.  Harbor Branch Institute here in Florida is still using the two Sea-Link subs their founder, Ed Link, built in the early '70's.  Woods Hole Institute in Massachusetts still runs the Alvin- and was about to replace it with a new vehicle but funding is in limbo.

When it comes to putting men in deep submersibles, I'm afraid insurance companies have turned us into a generation of wimps.  Manned space flight is backed by governments, but the private research institutions who would operate manned subs generally can't afford the overhead.  Robotic systems, aside from lower cost and lesser risk, are generally more portable- so they've taken over offshore oil operations as well as naval and research applications.  Most of the old manned subs went to the scrap yard; a few to museums.  Piccard's Ben Franklin was in a junk yard until it was found & restored for display by the fine folks at the Vancouver Maritime Museum.

[Johno]

Not that I know of; we have a microscopically detailed knowledge of the Littoral region, and just a microscopic knowledge of everything else...

Re insurance companies:
<Faux Arnie accent> Don't be a girlie man! </faux>