The Trieste, 1960.

Good evening MOOCers! There has been such a lot of discussion about the course content, it is great to see so many of you enjoying the course! We have had a lot of comments on the timeline where you can discover the history of ocean exploration, so I thought I would share an additional resource about a dive that has always fascinated me.

The Trieste was a small submersible, which carried two men to the bottom of the ocean at the Challenger Deep in January of 1960, they reached 10,911 metres below the surface! Here is a great video with some interviews with Don Walsh and footage from the expedition:

You can also read the original article written in National Geographic in August, 1960, by Jacques Piccard himself:

“Like a free balloon on a windless day, indifferent to the almost 200,000 tons of water pressing on the cabin from all sides, balanced to within an ounce or so on its wire guide rope, slowly, surely, in the name of science and humanity, the Trieste took possession of the abyss, the last extreme on our earth that remained to be conquered.”

A wonderful account of the dive, have you found any other great resources you would like to share? Let us know in the comments!

 

Millie