Submersible balloon!!!

May I introduce a submersible balloon of the mid 1990's!

It was few days ago reported in the news, that Tevo Group's Lokomo foundry factory of Tampere will deliver a diving ball to China. The value of the transaction is millions of euros. The new diving ball will reach the depth of more than 11 km, down to the grave of Mariana trench!

The trade is associated with a rare piece of history, as Lokomo has cast these extremely valuable diving balls already in 1980's. 

In the blip you can see one of them!

It is now at an exhibition centre of Tampere. As my son is working in maintaining department of this very factory now, he had been cleaning this old prototype submersible balloon for the exhibition, just few days ago :)

The story of this balloon is, that in the end of the 1980s, the CIA and the Pentagon blocked the sale of submersible balloons and boats made by Lokomo Tampere to the then Soviet Union Mir submersibles. Cold war history.

Later these Mir submersible vehicles were used by Canadian film director James Cameron to film the wreck of the RMS Titanic, resting at a depth of 3,821 metres, for his 1997 film Titanic

More info here in the link.

I have tried to visit to the exhibition centre for many days now, but have had this bad knee problem, so it was possible only now. Today I dared to drive this far to see the ball. Late in the night there was only few people maintaining the exhibition. No audience. I had very small stick walk to see the ball. Marvellous piece of work!

Knee my better, but can not take normal step yet. Tomorrow x-ray and MRI.

Thanks for visiting and commenting my site.

Susanna.