has this always been true? have I always not known it?

[psocoptera]

So apparently people have been to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Once. In 1960. Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard, in the Trieste.

What?

This feels like a crazy thing to have somehow not known. Like not knowing there were moon landings, or that people have made it to the South Pole, or the top of Everest, or broken the sound barrier. I'm not saying I expect to be familiar with every cool thing humanity has done, obviously, but, I don't know, cultural literacy, Armstrong and Aldrin, Amundsen, Hillary, Yeager, these are familiar names, shouldn't Walsh and Piccard ring a bell in the same way? Did I know about this at some point and then somehow just forget? (What else have I forgotten about?)

Anyways, this is a nifty infographic, and if you scroll all the way to the bottom, Don Walsh is down there to surprise and confuse you, if you are me.

Comments

[gannet.livejournal.com]

And isn't that a great infographic?

If you're interested in things like this, NOAA and MBARI have some good videos. Another good thing to look for is the submersible ALVIN.

[psocoptera.livejournal.com]

Okay, how have I heard of ALVIN but not the Trieste? (Answer: the oceanography-museum side of the aquarium at Scripps, back when my dad working at Scripps meant we could more or less wander in any time for free. I was always kind of fascinated by FLIP, which is a boat that stands itself on end for research purposes. (I never saw it live or anything, I just remember the museum display.)) ... dang, you'd *really* think I would have had to come across mention of the Trieste at some point too. But it's so weird to think I just forgot about it to the extent that it was surprising to re-learn.

[gannet.livejournal.com]

I can see how that would be disconcerting!