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Living underwater is something that sounds straight out fiction, but Rudiger Koch, a 59-year-old German aerospace engineer, hopes people will see it as a very real option for mankind. In his quest to prove it’s possible, Koch spent 120 days beneath the surface, breaking the Guinness World Record for longest time living under water without depressurization.
Located 36 feet deep off the coast of northern Panama, Koch’s 320-square-foot home under the sea had most features anyone would need for a comfortable stay, including a bed, toilet, TV, internet, and even an exercise bike all powered by solar panels on the surface. However, there are no showers.
The underwater capsule had another chamber on top, connected via a spiral staircase, serving as a way to enter the home for food deliveries and visits from his wife, children, and doctor. The pièce de résistance? A copy of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, as Koch was inspired to take on this challenge by the story of Captain Nemo.
“It was a great adventure and now it’s over there’s almost a sense of regret actually. I enjoyed my time here very much,” Koch told AFP. For him, the views from the portholes were one of the best parts of this adventure. “It is beautiful when things calm down and it gets dark and the sea is glowing. It is impossible to describe, you have to experience that yourself.”
Koch emerged from his underwater abode on January 24, where he was met by Guinness World Records adjudicator Susana Reyes. The official confirmed that the engineer had broken the previous record of 100 days, held by Joseph Diturit. To make sure he never left the capsule, four cameras captured his daily life—they also helped keep an eye on his mental health. For all the wild achievements Guinness World Records documents, Reyes described this endeavor as “one of the most extravagant.”
The engineer celebrated the end of this chapter with a glass of champagne and a cigar, before he jumped into the ocean from the upper deck and hopped on a boat that took him to the mainland. Besides making history with this record, Koch is excited to show that humans can spend extended periods of time under the sea—and can even settle there for good.
“Moving out to the ocean is something we should do as a species,” Koch says. “What we are trying to do here is prove that the seas are actually a viable environment for human expansion.”
Rudiger Koch, a 59-year-old German aerospace engineer, broke the Guinness World Record for longest time living underwater with depressurizing.
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Koch spent 120 days beneath the surface, beating the previous record of 100 days held by Joseph Diturit.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
Located 36 feet deep off the coast of northern Panama, Koch’s 320-square-foot home under the sea had most features anyone would need for a comfortable stay.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
Besides making history with this record, Koch is excited to show that humans can spend extended periods of time under the sea—and they can even settle there for good.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
“What we are trying to do here is prove that the seas are actually a viable environment for human expansion.”
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
Sources: German man sets world record living for 120 days underwater; Seeking a new way of life under the sea – and a world record
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