Evening star., 1946-10-21
Picard Plans 10 Use
Free Sea Balloon 10
View Ocean Depths

View Ocean Depths
By Prof. Auguste Piceord
North American Newspaper AIIiones
/ ZURICH, Switzerland, Oct. 21.--
Today man can safely explore the
ocean bottom, six miles down, in a
sphere which is not linked to sur
face ship by cable All previous
dives to depths below those at which
a submarine or other self-propelled
craft can operate have been in a
sphere or fully inclosed diving-bell
lowered by cable from a ship on
the surface.
The principle which I hope to
apply in my dive is an inverse form
of free ballooning. The open basket
will become steel shell; the gas
bag will become an oil-filled con-
tainer; a manometer will tell depth,
replacing the barometer Indicating
altitude.
AS free-balloon pilot, I was disap-
pointed to see that the distinguished
American zoologist, DR.. William
Beebe, attached his heavy cabin to a
cable when he went 3,028 feet below
the seas surface. Whoever knows both
the free balloon and the cable bal
loon will never hesitate in his choice.
When the wind begins to shake an
observation balloon, the pilot, hang
! ing to his basket, always hopes Sc
cretly: IF only the cable would
break! Then I could make fine,
free flight in steady comfort" But
when the waves and sub-ocean cur
rents begin to shake the underwa-
ter explorers cabin, his only hope
is that the cable does not break.
Stress Increases With Depth.
1t is possible that depths even
greater than DR.. Beebe's will be
reached by cable cabin; but the
longer the cable, the heavier it
will be, the greater the stress and
the more violent the motions of the
cabin. And the fate of an under
water explorer whose cable catches
on a rock is not pleasant to con-
template.
The cabin which I propose is
spherical. OF high quality cast steel,
it would weigh 1880 pounds. The
Upward push of the sea water it
would displace is of about 9,240
pounds. Allow weight of crew and
Instruments at $50 pounds plus $50
pounds of ballast. This means an ex-
less weight of 1850 pounds, which
must be balanced by our submarine
gas bag"-in this case waterproof
10th bag of strong fabric with a
1olume of about 1900 cubic feet.
This balloon would be filled with
Ill. Gas would be compressed with
he increasing depth until it lost
Ill lifting force. A liquid, on the
,ther hand, is less compressible; its
1olume remains nearly constant
lnder pressure. If one could find an
Ill of the same compresslbility as
water, the lifting force of our balloon
would remain constant at any depth.
Could Dispense With Balloon.
It would be possible to dispense
entirely with the balloon by making
I. sphere of dural, one of the new
iIuminum alloys, which would be
strong enough to resist pressures up
% depths of three miles, yet light
,nough to give a. free lift of 66o
pounds. Once ballast had been cast
IF at the sea bottom, the dural
sphere would rise to the surface
Iuite comfortably. ; - a-sr s.2-1~- Z
!. In either case,-, however, liberal
mounts of ballast will be needed to
descend rapidly. The ballast would
consist of iron shot. carried outside
The cabin in brass eontainer with
IN outlet at the bottom. The shot
would be magnetized and would run
,ut only when the electric current
S broken. Wire netting would pre-
7ent small fish or seaweed from
logging the free flow of shot and,
at worst, the whole ballast container
.ouId be jettisoned. The container
tself would be attached to the outer
hell of the sphere by a magnet.
Grabs attached to the outside OF
the sphere could be controlled from
within for picking up specimens, de-
posting them in a container also
fixed outside the sphere. But since
our main task would be observation,
the first need among outside fix
lures is a powerful light to pierce
the eternal night of the ocean floor.
Thick conical windows will permit
us to look out, and our observations
will be dictated to a. stenographer
aboard the surface craft by special
short-wave wireless.
The direction of these supersonic
waves would also permit our friends
on the surface to keep track OF us
as we float about the ocean bottom,
driven by water currents sjust as a
balloon is driven by the wind, so
that they will be waiting to hoist us
aboard when we at last rise to the
surface.
From DR.. Beek,,s reports we
learn that with every foot one
descends one finds new forms of
live, new beasts large and small
What we do not know are the looks
of those fish, certainly numerous
who do not trust the looks of the
great intruder who was in continu-
Gus motion. DR.. Beebe must have
scared away many calm denizens OF
deep waters.
How much more effective could
our observations be if we could &c
to the very bottom of the ocean and
lie there, motionless or drifting
gently with the current, to watch
ocean life, undisturbed, six miles
below the surface?