What Happens When A Window Cracks 30,000 Ft Under The Sea?
And how two men found out
On January 23rd, 1960 two men set out to do the impossible. Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh were boarding a heavily modified research submarine with the goal of reaching the deepest part of the world’s oceans in person. That spot is known as Challenger Deep and it lies over 35,000 feet deep in the darkest depths of the Marianas Trench.
The vessel, Trieste, was designed to exceed depths of 30,000 feet and withstand pressures of over 6 tons per square inch. At those depths and those pressures, the smallest fault would lead to instant death. The entire submarine could have crumpled like a tin can under the foot of an elephant.
At least the death would be instantaneous.
The pair was going to either be the first people to reach the deepest, darkest depths of our planet or they were going to die trying.
The Descent
Traveling from the ocean’s surface to the ocean floor took 4 hours and 47 minutes. The descent was slow. Every time the submarine reached a new thermal layer it would have to stop and vent sensitive…
