A Swiss-born American chemist, engineer, professor and high-altitude balloonist, he invented clustered high-altitude balloons, and with his wife Jeannette, the plastic balloon. Piccard's inventions and co-inventions are used in balloon flight, aircraft and spacecraft.
At Chicago Jean Piccard was among Jeannette Ridlon's instructors. They married soon after she earned her master's degree and moved to Jean's native Switzerland, returning to the United States in 1926 when he accepted a position at MIT. Piccard and Jeannette had three sons, John, Paul and Donald, and also had foster children.
Jeannette, one of two identical twin girls, was the daughter of Dr. John Ridlon, a well-known Northwestern University orthopedic surgeon. Her twin sister, Beatrice, died at age three from burns suffered while playing with a toy stove, an accident Jeannette witnessed. She earned Bachelors degrees in Philosophy and Psychology from Bryn Mawr College in 1918, and in 1919 a Masters Degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Chicago. Jeannette was in later life an Episcopal priest. She held the women's altitude record for nearly three decades, and according to several contemporaneous accounts was regarded as the first woman in space. Jennette was the first licensed female balloon pilot in the U.S., and the first woman to fly to the stratosphere.
Jean Piccard was the co-pilot for his wife on the third and final voyage of the Century of Progress. The largest balloon in the world was conceived for him to fly at the World's Fair in 1933 but was flown there by US Navy pilots who were licensed. After this flight he created the liquid oxygen converter when the liquid failed to vaporize on descent after the cabin doors were open. Piccard developed a frost-free window that was used on this flight and later by the Navy and Air Force in the B-24 Liberator or B-26 Marauder. He used blasting caps and TNT for releasing the balloon at launch and for remote release of external ballast from inside the sealed cabin. This was the first use of pyrotechnics for remote-controlled actuating devices in aircraft, an unpopular, revolutionary idea at the time. Later his student Robert R. Gilruth, who became the director of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, approved and used them in spacecraft.
Plastic balloons
In 1935 and 1936, to reduce weight and thus enabling a balloon to reach higher altitudes, plastic balloon construction began independently by Max Cosyns in Belgium, Erich Regener in Germany, and Thomas H. Johnson and Jean Piccard, then at the Franklin Institute Bartol Research Foundation in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Johnson suggested cellophane to Jean Piccard.
Balloon research stopped for the most part during World War II.
In February 1946 with Otto Christian Winzen, Jean Piccard proposed manned flight to the US Navy using clustered balloons made of thin plastic. In June the Office of Naval Research approved Project Helios and that year General Mills and the University of Minnesota contracted to build a cluster of 100 polyethylene balloons for atmospheric research. Helios was designed to reach 100,000 feet for ten hours with a payload of instruments.
Jean Piccard helped Winzen design the Skyhook polyethylene balloons that replaced Project Helios in 1947. Skyhook balloons were used unmanned for atmospheric research by the Navy and for manned flights by the US Air Force. Later Jean Piccard developed electronics for emptying ballast bags.
Piccard died on January 28, 1963 (his 79th birthday) in Minneapolis.
Piccard family
Jules Piccard (professor of chemistry)
Auguste Piccard (physicist, aeronaut, balloonist, hydronaut)
Jacques Piccard (hydronaut)
Bertrand Piccard (aeronaut, balloonist)
Jean Felix Piccard (organic chemist, aeronaut, and balloonist)
Jeannette Piccard (wife of Jean Felix) (aeronaut and balloonist)
Don Piccard (balloonist)
JEAN PICCARD'S TWIN BROTHER AUGUSTE:
Auguste and Jean Piccard, twin brothers, were born in Basel, Switzerland, on 28 January 1884. Auguste became a physicist, and Jean an organic chemist and aeronautical engineer. Each earned a doctorate in natural science from the Swiss Institute of Technology, and devoted their adult lives to scientific research and education. They contributed significantly to the advancement of scientific knowledge of the stratosphere, ballooning and of the means for man to survive in a high altitude environment. Although the brothers were physically separated most of their lives, they collaborated on their research efforts throughout their careers.
Auguste is best known in the aerospace field for his design of a pressurized balloon gondola and its successful application to high altitude operation. Convinced that survival in the stratosphere required a pressurized cabin, Auguste, in 1930, devised a spherical aluminum gondola which could be pressurized to approximate sea level pressure, and which was equipped with a system for reusing its own air supply. On 27 May 1931, Auguste and a young assistant ascended from Augsburg, Germany, and reached a record altitude of 15,785 m. (51,775 ft). Later, on 18 August 1932, he made a second record-breaking ascent to 16,200 m. (53,152 ft). Auguste's brilliant and innovative development of the pressurized gondola as well as his spectacular high altitude flights contributed substantially to the international body of aeronautical knowledge, and were important technical preliminaries to eventually putting man safely in space.
Following his great success in high altitude research, Auguste turned his considerable intellect and energy to successful deep sea research utilizing submersibles. He died in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 March, 1962.
Jean Piccard, like his twin brother, was interested from an early age in high altitude balloon flight. He moved to the United States in 1926 and continued to collaborate with his brother in the development of the stratosphere balloon.
At Chicago Jean Piccard was among Jeannette Ridlon's instructors. They married soon after she earned her master's degree and moved to Jean's native Switzerland, returning to the United States in 1926 when he accepted a position at MIT. Piccard and Jeannette had three sons, John, Paul and Donald, and also had foster children.
Jeannette, one of two identical twin girls, was the daughter of Dr. John Ridlon, a well-known Northwestern University orthopedic surgeon. Her twin sister, Beatrice, died at age three from burns suffered while playing with a toy stove, an accident Jeannette witnessed. She earned Bachelors degrees in Philosophy and Psychology from Bryn Mawr College in 1918, and in 1919 a Masters Degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Chicago. Jeannette was in later life an Episcopal priest. She held the women's altitude record for nearly three decades, and according to several contemporaneous accounts was regarded as the first woman in space. Jennette was the first licensed female balloon pilot in the U.S., and the first woman to fly to the stratosphere.
Jean Piccard was the co-pilot for his wife on the third and final voyage of the Century of Progress. The largest balloon in the world was conceived for him to fly at the World's Fair in 1933 but was flown there by US Navy pilots who were licensed. After this flight he created the liquid oxygen converter when the liquid failed to vaporize on descent after the cabin doors were open. Piccard developed a frost-free window that was used on this flight and later by the Navy and Air Force in the B-24 Liberator or B-26 Marauder. He used blasting caps and TNT for releasing the balloon at launch and for remote release of external ballast from inside the sealed cabin. This was the first use of pyrotechnics for remote-controlled actuating devices in aircraft, an unpopular, revolutionary idea at the time. Later his student Robert R. Gilruth, who became the director of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, approved and used them in spacecraft.
Plastic balloons
In 1935 and 1936, to reduce weight and thus enabling a balloon to reach higher altitudes, plastic balloon construction began independently by Max Cosyns in Belgium, Erich Regener in Germany, and Thomas H. Johnson and Jean Piccard, then at the Franklin Institute Bartol Research Foundation in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Johnson suggested cellophane to Jean Piccard.
Balloon research stopped for the most part during World War II.
In February 1946 with Otto Christian Winzen, Jean Piccard proposed manned flight to the US Navy using clustered balloons made of thin plastic. In June the Office of Naval Research approved Project Helios and that year General Mills and the University of Minnesota contracted to build a cluster of 100 polyethylene balloons for atmospheric research. Helios was designed to reach 100,000 feet for ten hours with a payload of instruments.
Jean Piccard helped Winzen design the Skyhook polyethylene balloons that replaced Project Helios in 1947. Skyhook balloons were used unmanned for atmospheric research by the Navy and for manned flights by the US Air Force. Later Jean Piccard developed electronics for emptying ballast bags.
Piccard died on January 28, 1963 (his 79th birthday) in Minneapolis.
Piccard family
Jules Piccard (professor of chemistry)
Auguste Piccard (physicist, aeronaut, balloonist, hydronaut)
Jacques Piccard (hydronaut)
Bertrand Piccard (aeronaut, balloonist)
Jean Felix Piccard (organic chemist, aeronaut, and balloonist)
Jeannette Piccard (wife of Jean Felix) (aeronaut and balloonist)
Don Piccard (balloonist)
JEAN PICCARD'S TWIN BROTHER AUGUSTE:
Auguste and Jean Piccard, twin brothers, were born in Basel, Switzerland, on 28 January 1884. Auguste became a physicist, and Jean an organic chemist and aeronautical engineer. Each earned a doctorate in natural science from the Swiss Institute of Technology, and devoted their adult lives to scientific research and education. They contributed significantly to the advancement of scientific knowledge of the stratosphere, ballooning and of the means for man to survive in a high altitude environment. Although the brothers were physically separated most of their lives, they collaborated on their research efforts throughout their careers.
Auguste is best known in the aerospace field for his design of a pressurized balloon gondola and its successful application to high altitude operation. Convinced that survival in the stratosphere required a pressurized cabin, Auguste, in 1930, devised a spherical aluminum gondola which could be pressurized to approximate sea level pressure, and which was equipped with a system for reusing its own air supply. On 27 May 1931, Auguste and a young assistant ascended from Augsburg, Germany, and reached a record altitude of 15,785 m. (51,775 ft). Later, on 18 August 1932, he made a second record-breaking ascent to 16,200 m. (53,152 ft). Auguste's brilliant and innovative development of the pressurized gondola as well as his spectacular high altitude flights contributed substantially to the international body of aeronautical knowledge, and were important technical preliminaries to eventually putting man safely in space.
Following his great success in high altitude research, Auguste turned his considerable intellect and energy to successful deep sea research utilizing submersibles. He died in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 March, 1962.
Jean Piccard, like his twin brother, was interested from an early age in high altitude balloon flight. He moved to the United States in 1926 and continued to collaborate with his brother in the development of the stratosphere balloon.
A Swiss-born American chemist, engineer, professor and high-altitude balloonist, he invented clustered high-altitude balloons, and with his wife Jeannette, the plastic balloon. Piccard's inventions and co-inventions are used in balloon flight, aircraft and spacecraft.
At Chicago Jean Piccard was among Jeannette Ridlon's instructors. They married soon after she earned her master's degree and moved to Jean's native Switzerland, returning to the United States in 1926 when he accepted a position at MIT. Piccard and Jeannette had three sons, John, Paul and Donald, and also had foster children.
Jeannette, one of two identical twin girls, was the daughter of Dr. John Ridlon, a well-known Northwestern University orthopedic surgeon. Her twin sister, Beatrice, died at age three from burns suffered while playing with a toy stove, an accident Jeannette witnessed. She earned Bachelors degrees in Philosophy and Psychology from Bryn Mawr College in 1918, and in 1919 a Masters Degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Chicago. Jeannette was in later life an Episcopal priest. She held the women's altitude record for nearly three decades, and according to several contemporaneous accounts was regarded as the first woman in space. Jennette was the first licensed female balloon pilot in the U.S., and the first woman to fly to the stratosphere.
Jean Piccard was the co-pilot for his wife on the third and final voyage of the Century of Progress. The largest balloon in the world was conceived for him to fly at the World's Fair in 1933 but was flown there by US Navy pilots who were licensed. After this flight he created the liquid oxygen converter when the liquid failed to vaporize on descent after the cabin doors were open. Piccard developed a frost-free window that was used on this flight and later by the Navy and Air Force in the B-24 Liberator or B-26 Marauder. He used blasting caps and TNT for releasing the balloon at launch and for remote release of external ballast from inside the sealed cabin. This was the first use of pyrotechnics for remote-controlled actuating devices in aircraft, an unpopular, revolutionary idea at the time. Later his student Robert R. Gilruth, who became the director of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, approved and used them in spacecraft.
Plastic balloons
In 1935 and 1936, to reduce weight and thus enabling a balloon to reach higher altitudes, plastic balloon construction began independently by Max Cosyns in Belgium, Erich Regener in Germany, and Thomas H. Johnson and Jean Piccard, then at the Franklin Institute Bartol Research Foundation in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Johnson suggested cellophane to Jean Piccard.
Balloon research stopped for the most part during World War II.
In February 1946 with Otto Christian Winzen, Jean Piccard proposed manned flight to the US Navy using clustered balloons made of thin plastic. In June the Office of Naval Research approved Project Helios and that year General Mills and the University of Minnesota contracted to build a cluster of 100 polyethylene balloons for atmospheric research. Helios was designed to reach 100,000 feet for ten hours with a payload of instruments.
Jean Piccard helped Winzen design the Skyhook polyethylene balloons that replaced Project Helios in 1947. Skyhook balloons were used unmanned for atmospheric research by the Navy and for manned flights by the US Air Force. Later Jean Piccard developed electronics for emptying ballast bags.
Piccard died on January 28, 1963 (his 79th birthday) in Minneapolis.
Piccard family
Jules Piccard (professor of chemistry)
Auguste Piccard (physicist, aeronaut, balloonist, hydronaut)
Jacques Piccard (hydronaut)
Bertrand Piccard (aeronaut, balloonist)
Jean Felix Piccard (organic chemist, aeronaut, and balloonist)
Jeannette Piccard (wife of Jean Felix) (aeronaut and balloonist)
Don Piccard (balloonist)
JEAN PICCARD'S TWIN BROTHER AUGUSTE:
Auguste and Jean Piccard, twin brothers, were born in Basel, Switzerland, on 28 January 1884. Auguste became a physicist, and Jean an organic chemist and aeronautical engineer. Each earned a doctorate in natural science from the Swiss Institute of Technology, and devoted their adult lives to scientific research and education. They contributed significantly to the advancement of scientific knowledge of the stratosphere, ballooning and of the means for man to survive in a high altitude environment. Although the brothers were physically separated most of their lives, they collaborated on their research efforts throughout their careers.
Auguste is best known in the aerospace field for his design of a pressurized balloon gondola and its successful application to high altitude operation. Convinced that survival in the stratosphere required a pressurized cabin, Auguste, in 1930, devised a spherical aluminum gondola which could be pressurized to approximate sea level pressure, and which was equipped with a system for reusing its own air supply. On 27 May 1931, Auguste and a young assistant ascended from Augsburg, Germany, and reached a record altitude of 15,785 m. (51,775 ft). Later, on 18 August 1932, he made a second record-breaking ascent to 16,200 m. (53,152 ft). Auguste's brilliant and innovative development of the pressurized gondola as well as his spectacular high altitude flights contributed substantially to the international body of aeronautical knowledge, and were important technical preliminaries to eventually putting man safely in space.
Following his great success in high altitude research, Auguste turned his considerable intellect and energy to successful deep sea research utilizing submersibles. He died in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 March, 1962.
Jean Piccard, like his twin brother, was interested from an early age in high altitude balloon flight. He moved to the United States in 1926 and continued to collaborate with his brother in the development of the stratosphere balloon.
At Chicago Jean Piccard was among Jeannette Ridlon's instructors. They married soon after she earned her master's degree and moved to Jean's native Switzerland, returning to the United States in 1926 when he accepted a position at MIT. Piccard and Jeannette had three sons, John, Paul and Donald, and also had foster children.
Jeannette, one of two identical twin girls, was the daughter of Dr. John Ridlon, a well-known Northwestern University orthopedic surgeon. Her twin sister, Beatrice, died at age three from burns suffered while playing with a toy stove, an accident Jeannette witnessed. She earned Bachelors degrees in Philosophy and Psychology from Bryn Mawr College in 1918, and in 1919 a Masters Degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Chicago. Jeannette was in later life an Episcopal priest. She held the women's altitude record for nearly three decades, and according to several contemporaneous accounts was regarded as the first woman in space. Jennette was the first licensed female balloon pilot in the U.S., and the first woman to fly to the stratosphere.
Jean Piccard was the co-pilot for his wife on the third and final voyage of the Century of Progress. The largest balloon in the world was conceived for him to fly at the World's Fair in 1933 but was flown there by US Navy pilots who were licensed. After this flight he created the liquid oxygen converter when the liquid failed to vaporize on descent after the cabin doors were open. Piccard developed a frost-free window that was used on this flight and later by the Navy and Air Force in the B-24 Liberator or B-26 Marauder. He used blasting caps and TNT for releasing the balloon at launch and for remote release of external ballast from inside the sealed cabin. This was the first use of pyrotechnics for remote-controlled actuating devices in aircraft, an unpopular, revolutionary idea at the time. Later his student Robert R. Gilruth, who became the director of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, approved and used them in spacecraft.
Plastic balloons
In 1935 and 1936, to reduce weight and thus enabling a balloon to reach higher altitudes, plastic balloon construction began independently by Max Cosyns in Belgium, Erich Regener in Germany, and Thomas H. Johnson and Jean Piccard, then at the Franklin Institute Bartol Research Foundation in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Johnson suggested cellophane to Jean Piccard.
Balloon research stopped for the most part during World War II.
In February 1946 with Otto Christian Winzen, Jean Piccard proposed manned flight to the US Navy using clustered balloons made of thin plastic. In June the Office of Naval Research approved Project Helios and that year General Mills and the University of Minnesota contracted to build a cluster of 100 polyethylene balloons for atmospheric research. Helios was designed to reach 100,000 feet for ten hours with a payload of instruments.
Jean Piccard helped Winzen design the Skyhook polyethylene balloons that replaced Project Helios in 1947. Skyhook balloons were used unmanned for atmospheric research by the Navy and for manned flights by the US Air Force. Later Jean Piccard developed electronics for emptying ballast bags.
Piccard died on January 28, 1963 (his 79th birthday) in Minneapolis.
Piccard family
Jules Piccard (professor of chemistry)
Auguste Piccard (physicist, aeronaut, balloonist, hydronaut)
Jacques Piccard (hydronaut)
Bertrand Piccard (aeronaut, balloonist)
Jean Felix Piccard (organic chemist, aeronaut, and balloonist)
Jeannette Piccard (wife of Jean Felix) (aeronaut and balloonist)
Don Piccard (balloonist)
JEAN PICCARD'S TWIN BROTHER AUGUSTE:
Auguste and Jean Piccard, twin brothers, were born in Basel, Switzerland, on 28 January 1884. Auguste became a physicist, and Jean an organic chemist and aeronautical engineer. Each earned a doctorate in natural science from the Swiss Institute of Technology, and devoted their adult lives to scientific research and education. They contributed significantly to the advancement of scientific knowledge of the stratosphere, ballooning and of the means for man to survive in a high altitude environment. Although the brothers were physically separated most of their lives, they collaborated on their research efforts throughout their careers.
Auguste is best known in the aerospace field for his design of a pressurized balloon gondola and its successful application to high altitude operation. Convinced that survival in the stratosphere required a pressurized cabin, Auguste, in 1930, devised a spherical aluminum gondola which could be pressurized to approximate sea level pressure, and which was equipped with a system for reusing its own air supply. On 27 May 1931, Auguste and a young assistant ascended from Augsburg, Germany, and reached a record altitude of 15,785 m. (51,775 ft). Later, on 18 August 1932, he made a second record-breaking ascent to 16,200 m. (53,152 ft). Auguste's brilliant and innovative development of the pressurized gondola as well as his spectacular high altitude flights contributed substantially to the international body of aeronautical knowledge, and were important technical preliminaries to eventually putting man safely in space.
Following his great success in high altitude research, Auguste turned his considerable intellect and energy to successful deep sea research utilizing submersibles. He died in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 March, 1962.
Jean Piccard, like his twin brother, was interested from an early age in high altitude balloon flight. He moved to the United States in 1926 and continued to collaborate with his brother in the development of the stratosphere balloon.
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