Few explorers have reached the heights, actually and figuratively, that Bertrand Piccard has. He’s the quintessential fashionable explorer, for whom each large mission has a objective, which usually boils all the way down to environmental and climate-change consciousness.
In 1999 he was the primary particular person to circumnavigate the globe continuous in a balloon, known as Breitling Orbiter 3. Then he and André Borschberg, a Swiss entrepreneur and pilot, have been first to fly world wide, in phases, in a solar airplane known as Solar Impulse. Now he’s within the midst of what seems to be like his most technologically bold mission but: to fly across the planet in a green-hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft. Deliberate for 2028, this journey could be the primary nonstop zero-emission circumnavigation in human historical past.
It’s straightforward to see how that is the logical subsequent step in Piccard’s remarkable career. And but there was nothing simple concerning the early phases of the journey that received him right here. The trail to turning into one of many world’s most celebrated aeronaut-aviators started with dangle gliding, which Piccard took up in his teenagers to confront his worry of heights. He did so with a zeal that earned him the European hang-gliding aerobatics championship in 1985.
Nonetheless, it could be years earlier than Piccard joined the household enterprise of exploration. Within the mid-Nineteen Nineties he earned an MD diploma in psychiatry and established a psychiatric follow earlier than a chance opportunity led to a sideline in ballooning. Invited to take part as copilot in a trans-Atlantic balloon race—which he and his teammate won—he instantly turned seized with the thought of being the primary to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon.
Such a undertaking resonated along with his family’s history. His grandfather, Auguste Piccard, was a physics professor-turned-inventor who constructed the primary pressurized aluminum gondola. It enabled him and a colleague to be the primary folks hoisted into the stratosphere, by a hydrogen balloon, in 1931. In addition to being the primary particular person to see the curvature of the Earth, Auguste was the inspiration for the Professor Cuthbert Calculus character in The Adventures of Tintin sequence of comedian novels.
Later, Auguste invented and constructed the primary bathyscaphe. In 1946 he was joined by his son, Jacques, a marine engineer, with whom he made a sequence of document descents. This work culminated within the Trieste, during which Jacques and a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, Don Walsh, plumbed the depths of the Mariana Trench in 1960, turning into the primary folks to descend 10,916 meters to achieve the deepest spot on Earth.
In an homage to the exploring spirit of a number of generations of Piccards, the captain of the Enterprise starship in varied reinventions of the science-fiction sequence Star Trek beginning in 1987 was named Jean-Luc Picard.
IEEE Spectrum interviewed Bertrand Piccard at a pivotal second within the hydrogen-powered plane undertaking, with the airplane, known as Climate Impulse, about 40 % constructed. Piccard spoke concerning the contributions to the Local weather Impulse undertaking of his company sponsors, together with Airbus, and about why he’s assured that hydrogen will ultimately succeed as an aviation fuel.
This transcript has been evenly edited for concision and readability.
Bertrand Piccard, left, and Prince Albert of Monaco, proper, take off throughout the twenty fifth Worldwide Sizzling Air Balloon week, in Chateau d’Oex, Switzerland, in 2003.Martial Trezzini/AP
You’re the grandson and the son of well-known explorers. Was there any form of understanding, spoken or in any other case, that you’d go into this enterprise of exploration?
Bertrand Piccard: As a toddler, I used to be actually impressed by what my grandfather and my father did, but additionally by why they did it. When my grandfather made the primary flight to the stratosphere and invented the pressurized cabin, his purpose was to point out that it was attainable to fly at very excessive stage, above the dangerous climate, in uncommon air, much less dense air, which implies that aviation could be extra dependable and extra environment friendly by burning much less gasoline. And when my father made his dive with a bathyscaphe to the deepest spot on Earth within the Mariana Trench, his purpose was to examine if there was life down there at a interval the place the governments wished to drop their radioactive and poisonous waste within the ocean trenches.
So each had a imaginative and prescient that was about safety of the setting, about high quality of life, about using expertise to enhance the standard of life. In order that was a incredible instance. I used to be considering, “Wow, my grandfather and my father, they’re doing good.” Their pals have been astronauts, divers, take a look at pilots, environmentalists. So throughout my childhood, the folks coming to our house have been folks like Wernher von Braun, and American astronauts. I met Charles Lindbergh on the launch of Apollo 12 after I was 11 years previous. And people have been the moments after I thought that it was the one method to run my life. To be an explorer. There was no query. That was actually what me. It’s perhaps unusual to say it this manner, however I believed it was a standard method to reside, to realize what has by no means been executed, to attempt what no person has achieved. After which, whereas rising up, I noticed that that was not the mainstream. The mainstream is about fears. Worry of the unknown, remaining within the certitudes, within the routine, cultivating the paradigms, the dogmas. Mainly, I turned an explorer in each dimensions. Within the exterior world with aviation, but additionally the interior world with psychiatry, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy.
What folks overlook is that I even have a mom, and it’s my mom who was very a lot fascinated about psychology, spirituality, philosophy, and she or he opened that a part of life to me. So principally, I made a mix of what I realized from my father and from my mom.
Photo voltaic Impulse 2, the photo voltaic powered airplane, was piloted by Swiss entrepreneur André Borschberg over the pyramids in Giza, Egypt, previous to touchdown in Cairo on 13 July, 2016.Jean Revillard/Getty Photos
How did you get the thought for Local weather Impulse?
Piccard: With Breitling Orbiter, I flew nonstop world wide, however with carbon emissions. With Photo voltaic Impulse, there have been no emissions, however there have been 16 stopovers. So the last word flight was nonetheless to be executed. The last word flight is world wide, nonstop, zero emission. And I used to be considering, “How can I try this?” And what we discovered as essentially the most related method to do it’s with liquid, inexperienced, hydrogen. You produce your hydrogen with electrolysis of water by solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectricity, for instance, so you may have decarbonized hydrogen. You set it at minus 253 levels Celsius, so it stays liquid. And you employ the boil off, meaning the little a part of hydrogen that’s evaporating, and put it by fuel cells that makes electrical energy for the electric motor.
And for this reason now I’m actually placing my time and my enthusiasm into this Local weather Impulse undertaking as a result of it’s a method to promote the latest technological options. It’s a method to present that one other future is feasible, and that’s essential for me. You may all the time do higher. You may invent. You may problem your self. You may problem the established order. You may increase enthusiasm, restore hope, carry folks with you, and do one thing higher. And I imagine that is actually what I need to do now within the final a part of my life.
What are a few of the most vital technical challenges that you simply confronted within the design part of the Local weather Impulse airplane?
Piccard: There are two elements. One is the aerodynamic half and the opposite is the propulsion half. So for the aerodynamic, we have been supported by Airbus so as to have the ability to have essentially the most environment friendly airplane by way of aerodynamics. And the large a part of the propulsion system is the hydrogen tank. How are you going to hold liquid hydrogen liquid for 9 days with precisely the best amount of it that can evaporate to go to the gasoline cell? And for this we’re working with ArianeGroup, for instance, the European space-rocket producer. We’re additionally working with Syensqo, a spin-off of Solvay, as the primary technological companion. They’re the specialist for the composite supplies, the membranes for the gasoline cell, the coating of the airplane to maintain the aerodynamics nearly as good as attainable, and all of the adhesives.
Proper now we’re finding out methods to have an airplane fly on hydrogen for thus lengthy. For the take a look at, we could have smaller tanks with hydrogen that can permit us to fly a few days to coach, to check the whole lot. After which once we go world wide, we could have a lot larger hydrogen tanks that can be constructed out of composite supplies.
Bertrand Piccard [center] and Raphaël Dinelli [left] stand contained in the wood body of an plane at a workshop on the Atlantic coast of France.Local weather Impulse
You talked about your partnership with Airbus. Are you able to describe this partnership somewhat bit extra? What are they serving to you out with?
Piccard: First, they did a feasibility research. As a result of to start with, earlier than I used to be going to carry companions on board and sponsors on board, I wished to ensure that it was attainable. And I stated to Guillaume Faury, the CEO of Airbus, “Look, this can be a design of the airplane I need to use. That is the idea of the airplane. Now, what do you consider it?” And he put his staff finding out the undertaking. They stated, “Okay, you are able to do it, however it’s important to change numerous issues on the construction of the airplane.” And they also redesigned the airplane. They made a brand new form, they usually informed me: “Like this, you are able to do it.” In order that was actually the set off to go for it. After which I began to go and search for sponsors.
Because of the inexperienced mild of Airbus, I may collect the sponsors wanted to launch the development of the airplane, and now 49Sud has constructed roughly 40 % of the airplane. It’s a airplane that’s molded. We’ve obtained the molds. We put the carbon fiber and the epoxy within the molds after which we treatment it. It goes into the oven. It goes exterior. We put some extra layers. Put it again within the oven. So that you’re actually constructing the planes along with your arms.
So on one facet, it’s the employees making this airplane with their arms. On the opposite facet, it’s essentially the most fashionable supplies that you will discover on the planet, for stiffness, for lightness. For instance, our lead companion Syensqo managed to make the airplane 10 % lighter than what was deliberate simply because they’ve one of the best carbon-fiber supplies.
Who’re a few of the key members of the staff?
Piccard: My companion, Raphaël Dinelli. He’s initially a French navigator for ocean racing. He did the Vendee Globe 4 instances, however he’s additionally a composite engineer, the CEO of 49Sud, and he’s working the development of the airplane. We companion collectively and we’ll fly collectively.
A mannequin of the twin-hull Local weather Impulse plane hung over an space in a hangar the place Swiss aviation pioneer Bertrand Piccard spoke concerning the airplane, which can be powered by liquid hydrogen. The event was the general public unveiling of the undertaking in Les Sables d’Olonne, France, on 13 February, 2025.Yohan Bonnet/AP
Why do you may have confidence that hydrogen will ultimately succeed as an aviation gasoline?
Piccard: It’s a really attention-grabbing gasoline by way of energy density, and it’s a gasoline that’s fully clear. It’s not solely a query of carbon emission. There aren’t any emissions in any respect. So it’s good additionally for high quality of air. With hydrogen you may have electric motors, so it’s silent. So for the airports, you don’t have any issues with the neighborhood. That is additionally vital. It’s true that we’re very, very early by way of using hydrogen in aviation. And there are some individuals who criticize this undertaking and say, “It’s not possible. Hydrogen is simply too costly. You should change all of the airplanes. You should change all of the airports. You should create a brand new trade.” And I reply, “Sure. However it’s not the primary time that we’ve executed this.” The cell phone trade began precisely like this. It was $15,000 for a cell phone the scale of a suitcase. And other people thought that’s a distinct segment. However now all of us have a cell phone in our pockets.
Are you already considering of a giant problem or undertaking past Local weather Impulse? Is there one other large one in your life after Local weather Impulse?
Piccard: I’m afraid to tempt destiny [laughs]. I need to end this one first, after which we’ll see. It’s a giant undertaking. It’s not straightforward, so I actually need to give attention to it. The last word success for hydrogen flights is when you may have an airplane taking off like a rocket with liquid hydrogen and oxygen, just like the Ariane rocket. It will take 100 passengers to the restrict of area, you then lower the engine. You fly parabolic, suborbital, and you’ll fly from New York to Sydney in two hours. And that is one thing you possibly can solely do in case you fly suborbital and you’ve got a rocket engine with oxygen and hydrogen. And I’m undecided I’ll see this with my very own eyes as a result of I’m already 67, however I’m certain that youthful generations will see it. After which I hope they are going to keep in mind that a very long time earlier than, there was a Local weather Impulse undertaking main the way in which to this achievement.
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