| FNRS-1 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| RMM Piccard gondola | |
| Role | Record-breaking balloon |
| National origin | Belgium |
| Manufacturer | Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique |
| Designer | Auguste Piccard |
| Number built | 1 |
The FNRS-1 was a balloon, built by Auguste Piccard, that set a world altitude record. It was named after the Belgian Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, which funded the balloon.
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Auguste Antoine Piccard was a Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer known for his record-breaking hydrogen balloon flights, with which he studied the Earth's upper atmosphere. Piccard was also known for his invention of the first bathyscaphe, FNRS-2, with which he made a number of unmanned dives in 1948 to explore the ocean's depths.
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