Ben Franklin

The Ben Franklin is a research mesoscaphe designed in 1967 by Jacques Piccard — son of stratosphere pioneer Auguste Piccard — in collaboration with the Grumman Aerospace Corporation. The vessel was built for a singular mission: in the summer of 1969, Piccard and five scientists spent 30 days drifting passively inside the Gulf Stream, engine-off, covering roughly 2,700 kilometers from Florida to the waters off Nova Scotia. Beyond ocean current data, the voyage served NASA as a study in crew psychology during prolonged isolation, making it an indirect precursor to astronaut selection research. The submersible is now preserved as a historic ship attraction, open to visitors with wheelchair-accessible facilities.