Ashburn, VA

69° F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Ashburn

Virginia

69°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Ashburn, VA Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Video

Podcasts

Winter Center

News & Features AccuWeather Prime Astronomy Business Climate Health Recreation Sports Travel

News / Weather News

Where 'fantasy meets reality’: Cousteau grandson pushes the legacy bounds undersea

He learned to scuba dive at age 4, went on his first expedition at 7. The grandson of the legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau wants to create the International Space Station of the deep sea.

Published Apr. 1, 2022 5:36 PM EDT | Updated Apr. 12, 2022 5:19 PM EDT

Copied

Fabien Cousteau, an ocean conservationist and grandson of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, is undertaking a mission to build the equivalent of the International Space Station for Earth's oceans.

Describing Earth’s vast oceans as the “great barometer” for weather patterns, the grandson of legendary French ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau has embarked on an ambitious underwater mission that could lead to the collection of better real-time data.

Fabien Cousteau, 54, a documentary filmmaker and ardent oceanographer in his own right, is spearheading a multimillion-dollar effort to build a state-of-the-art network of underwater laboratories around the world -- the equivalent of the International Space Space but in the depths far below.

“Being able to gather weather data from down below the blue veneer will give us a much more comprehensive data set to make better decisions to mitigate storm surges, to save potentially lives, not days or weeks, but months and possibly longer by looking at the conveyor belts of currents underwater,” said Cousteau, who spent many years during his youth aboard his grandfather’s famed Calypso research vessel.

Spending entire weeks underwater, he believes, can provide scientists with a constant stream of data and samples to aid a multitude of science fields and research, not just meteorology.

But Cousteau is also on a personal quest to fulfill his lifelong dream of living underwater -- a feat his adventurer grandfather had also envisioned.

Cousteau and his Proteus Ocean Group hope to install the first of 3 lab stations and habitats in a marine-protected area off the coast of Curacao, an island in the Caribbean Sea, at the end of 2025.

The concept design for the Proteus undersea habitat and lab station, one of three planned to be installed around the world, beginning in 2025. (Fabien Cousteau/Concept designs by Yves Béhar and fuseproject)

“We're pushing really hard to do that,” Cousteau told AccuWeather Prime host and meteorologist Adam Del Rosso, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the project.

Besides advancing climate science, other research projects the station scientists hope to explore are the biochemical structures found only underwater that Cousteau foresees possibly leading to new cures and treatments -- “to dig up some answers and maybe some solutions to say viral pandemics, for example,” or cancers, according to Cousteau.

At about the size of an average house and with room enough for up to 12 scientists, the stations will allow scientists to spend days, weeks, maybe even months, at a time underwater due to multiple atmospheres of pressure as opposed to a submarine or a space station, he explained.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

Instead of "the pressure that we all are subject to on land, we're going to immerse people in a saturated environment so that not only can they be inside the habitat, but it allows for them the freedom of wandering outside the habitat for hours and hours at a time before coming back to rest and to eat and to do their science inside,” said Cousteau, who as the son of Jacques Cousteau's eldest son, Jean-Michel, learned to scuba dive at age 4 and accompanied the elder Cousteaus on expeditions at age 7. Jacques Cousteau died at age 87 in 1997.

The Cousteau legacy
Twitter

The stations will also feature an area for hydroponics and a medical bay in the event of emergencies.

The other two locations have yet to be released.

“We're looking at being strategic in placing these habitats in places that will give us a network to be able to collect data so that we can make better decisions [in] real-time all over the world.”

Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Cousteau. (Photo/Fabien Cousteau/Proteus Ocean Group)

And like the ISS, the Proteus station will be a modular facility.

The stations, Cousteau explained, will be “very much based on the pioneering efforts of yesterday, meaning some of the underwater habitats that my grandfather and others have built in the past, so we'll be standing on the shoulders of giants, but we'll be addressing modern needs and the future of ocean exploration” by integrating a modular system that can be upgraded.

Several submarine units or habitats were built from the 1960s to the 1980s. In fact, his grandfather helped develop one of the first such habitats, known as Conshelf, in 1962, a two-person habitat about 33 feet below the surface off the coast of Marseilles, France (His Conshelf II and III soon followed).

But only one functioning facility remains: the Aquarius Reef Base, which is now managed by Florida International University.

But at a modern-day scale, Proteus will be many times larger -- about 10 times larger.

“If we're to look at our future, we have to look at ocean exploration and the future of ocean exploration to learn more about how we can leverage its benefits all while taking care of that life support system that we so depend...the things that make us feel like this planet is home. This project draws me because it conjures up fantasy meets reality," he said.

More to see:

Drone spots polar bears taking over unusual Arctic playground
Video shows tanker navigating monstrous waves in North Atlantic
Astronomers discover 'geological wonderland' on Pluto

For the latest weather news, check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Health

Saharan dust cloud over the Atlantic may reach Gulf Coast by weekend

May 17, 2022
Weather News

Melting glacier allows researchers to make ‘exceptional’ discovery

May 17, 2022
Weather Forecasts

Scorching heat roasts India as New Delhi soars to 116 F

May 17, 2022
Hurricane

New study finds increase in Atlantic hurricanes linked to cleaner air

May 17, 2022
Weather News

8th sandstorm since April turns everything orange, overwhelms Iraq

May 17, 2022
Severe Weather

Flood threat to focus on 1,000-mile zone of US

May 17, 2022
Astronomy

AccuWeather interviews NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins live from space

May 16, 2022
Astronomy

'Blood Moon' eclipse amazes stargazers across the world

May 16, 2022
Weather Forecasts

Pattern shift to bring turbulent weather to Northwest

May 17, 2022
video

Double rainbow forms over New York farm

May 17, 2022
video

Lightning strikes as moon shines brightly in sky

May 17, 2022
Health

Collars and chewables to keep your pup free of ticks and fleas

Apr. 28, 2022
Recreation

Try putting one of these on your porch or patio this year

May 12, 2022
Show More Show Less Chevron down

Topics

News & Features

AccuWeather Prime

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Top Stories

Winter Weather

Denver weather to go from high 80s to snow in a matter of just hours

9 minutes ago

Hurricane

Eye on the tropics: Latest update on potential for pre-season storm

6 hours ago

Weather News

116-year-old ‘ghost tracks’ unearthed following pesky coastal storm

1 day ago

National Park rangers ask visitors to be cautious this summer

1 day ago 1:14

Podcast: Introducing AccuWeather Premium Plus

More Stories

Featured Topic

Local Arthritis Forecast

Featured Stories

Last moments before Mount St. Helens eruption caught on camera Upgrade your spring wardrobe with these statement pieces Now is the time to pick up a new ride-on lawnmower for summer
AccuWeather Weather News Where 'fantasy meets reality’: Cousteau grandson pushes the legacy bounds undersea
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
© 2021 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | TAG Disclosure | Do Not Sell My Data checkmark Confirmed Not Selling Your Data

We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

I Understand

Get AccuWeather alerts as they happen with our browser notifications.

Notifications Enabled

Thanks! We’ll keep you informed.

FEEDBACK