Aqua-Lung (open-circuit scuba)
Escafandra autónoma (Aqua-Lung)
- Date
- 1943 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan
- Field
- Tools
What it is
Naval officer Cousteau and engineer Gagnan designed a regulator that automatically supplies air from a pressurized cylinder, only when the diver inhales and at the exact pressure of the surrounding water, solving the problem of manually regulated diving helmets. The "aqua-lung" made modern untethered scuba diving possible, without cables or rigid helmets.
What it led to
- Modern recreational and scientific diving
- Cousteau's underwater documentaries (The Silent World)