Aeronautical engineer Rudiger Koch set a new record by spending 130 days underwater. With a 30 square meter capsule off the coast of Panama, he is exploring a possible way of life in the deep sea. His experience could transform our perception of human habitat.
According to Rudiger Koch, a German aeronautical engineer, life underwater could be a viable alternative: “We are trying to prove that the seas are a vital environment for human expansion and that we can settle permanently.”
Rudiger Koch inside the capsule
Off the coast of Panama, 11 meters below the sea surface, lies a 30 square meter capsule. There, Rudig cook59 years old, lived for 130 days, setting a new world record. This German aerospace engineer is the man who has remained underwater the longest without depressurization.
“It was a great adventure and now that it’s over, I almost have a little regret actually. I really enjoyed spending my time here,” Koch said. “It’s nice when everything calms down, it’s dark and the sea becomes incandescent. It’s impossible to describe, it’s something you have to experience for yourself. »
Koch broke the record previously held by Joseph Dituri, a professor at the University of South Florida, who stayed for 100 days in a 55 square meter apartment on the ocean floor near the coast of Key Largo, in Florida.
The Koch test at the bottom of the sea
Koch lived in 30 square meters for more than two months. In the capsule, he had a bed, a toilet, a television, a computer, internet and an exercise bike, but there was no shower real. “This will be the first thing I do when I return to Earth,” he told CBS News during the experiment.
-He did not live in isolation; its capsule was actually connected to a structure at sea, 15 minutes by boat from the coast. A tube with a spiral ladder allowed doctors and media to reach Koch in his underwater capsule during the experiment.
Above-ground solar panels provided the energy needed to power the small dwelling, and cameras filmed Koch 24 hours a day to monitor your physical health and make sure he stayed at theinterior of the capsule.
What are these underwater tests for?
According to Koch, we must “change the way we view human life.” Life underwater could be a valid alternative“and we are trying to prove that the seas are a vital environment forhuman expansion and that we can establish ourselves permanently,” he explained to Agence France Presse.
That’s not all. As former record holder Dituri demonstrated, staying underwater could prolong human life and prevent age-related diseases. Dituri, in fact, during its tests, recorded a lower blood pressure, cholesterol and inflammation levelsamong the benefits there were also improved sleep. Additionally, hyperbaric pressure for short periods of time has accelerated wound healingand catalyzed mobile replication.
There are clearly also contraindications. Under water, pressure on organs increasesand indeed, going to the toilet is more difficult and could also complicate sexual relations. Among the problems there is also a lack of exposure to sunlightwhich is mainly responsible for the synthesis of vitamin D. Finally, the psychological factor, it is not easy for a human being to live in a closed and limited space.
