Trieste

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 2010-11-20

Label: Good Time Gang Recordings

"Trieste" is a 15-minute musical retelling of the January 23, 1960 dive to the deepest point in any of Earth's oceans, the Challenger Deep, by Swiss scientist Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lt. Don Walsh -- the only time a manned dive to this depth (35,797 feet down) has ever been attempted! The specially designed submersible, Trieste, was built by Piccard's father, balloonist Auguste Piccard, who also held the world's altitude record (23,000 ft.). The descent to the seafloor took place over 5 hours, most of them in complete darkness (sunlight only reaches down about 500 feet). Communication with the surface was lost partway into the mission, and a window cracked at about 30,000 feet down. Unexpectedly, communication was restored when Trieste reached the bottom, where the men stayed for about 20 minutes before beginning a 3-hour ascent back to the surface.

Addendum: On March 26, 2012, film director James Cameron became only the third human explorer of the Challenger Deep in the Deepsea Challenger. The descent lasted 2 hours and 36 minutes with a recorded depth of 35,756 ft.