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Ben Franklin

Vancouver, Canada

Ben Franklin

The Ben Franklin mesoscaphe, also known as the Grumman/Piccard PX-15, is a crewed underwater submersible, built in 1968. It was the brainchild of explorer and inventor Jacques Piccard. The research vessel was designed to house a six-man crew for up to 30 days of oceanographic study in the depths of

the Gulf Stream. NASA became involved, seeing this as an opportunity to study the effects of long-term, continuous close confinement, a useful simulation of long space flights. The ship was named after American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.

Listen to the audio guide for Ben Franklin Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off

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