What is a Bathyscape?
A bathyscape is basically a bathysphere — a thick-armored metal sphere for diving — bolted to the bottom of a float, or a buoying device used to change depth. The bathyscape is used for investigating the deep sea. The most famous is the bathyscape Trieste, which reached the deepest point on the Earth’s surface, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, carrying two passengers, Jacques Piccard and Lt. Don Walsh. So few bathyscapes have been built that the term is most often associated specifically with the Trieste. The bathyscape began with the construction of the first bathysphere, devised by Otis Barton in 1928. The first bathysphere was hollow, with walls of one inch thick (2.54 cm)cast steel, 4.75 ft (1.5 m) in diameter. Fused quartz, which the strongest transparent material available at that point, was used for the windows. Instead of being self-propelled like the Trieste, this early bathysphere was lowered into the depths on a tether. Oxygen was provided via a pressurized caniste
