James Cameron Headed to Ocean's Deepest Point Within Weeks (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120308-james-cameron-deepest-mariana-trench-challenger-science-sub/)

Squeezed into a submersible as futuristic as anything in his movies, James Cameron intends to descend solo to the ocean's deepest point within weeks, the Canadian filmmaker and explorer announced Thursday.Tuesday, during testing off Papua New Guinea, Cameron dived deeper than any other human has on a solo mission. Now he aims to become the first human to visit the Mariana Trench's Challenger Deep in more than 50 years—and to return with animals, images, and data that were unthinkable in 1960.

...and here's his unusual, vertical-orientation submarine....

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/489/cache/james-cameron-submarine-mariana-trench-both-sides_48964_600x450.jpg (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/pictures/120308-james-cameron-deepest-mariana-trench-challenger-science-sub/?source=hp_dl2_news_sub20120308#/james-cameron-submarine-mariana-trench-both-sides_48964_600x450.jpg)

(National Geographic (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120308-james-cameron-deepest-mariana-trench-challenger-science-sub/) / James Cameron's Sci-Fi Sub (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/pictures/120308-james-cameron-deepest-mariana-trench-challenger-science-sub/?source=hp_dl2_news_sub20120308#/james-cameron-submarine-mariana-trench-both-sides_48964_600x450.jpg))

Maybe after he is finished it would be nice if donated the submersible to Bedford Institute Oceanography (BIO) or sell it to the Navy for a working sub in the fleet.

Ouch, CM--the thing is claustrophobic. I'm glad someone is bringing a camera, because I couldn't go down three, squeezed into such a tight compartment.

Really interesting read CM thanks for sharing. :)

Maybe after he is finished it would be nice if donated the submersible to Bedford Institute Oceanography (BIO) or sell it to the Navy for a working sub in the fleet.

You're joking right...?

You're joking right...?

This quote might shed some light on the subject:


might help OOOOOOMMMM...OOOOOOMMMM...OOOOOOMMMM... ...OOOOOOMMMM...OOOOOOMMMM...OOOOOOMMMM...OOOOOOMM MM...OOOOOOMMMM...OOOOOOMMMM...OOOOOOMMMM...OOOOOO MMMM...OOOOOOMMMM...OOOOOOMMMM...OOOOOOMMMM...

... I couldn't go down three, squeezed into such a tight compartment.

I'm sure it's going to be a tight squeeze, but it won't be three - just Cameron on a solo dive...

Ouch, CM--the thing is claustrophobic. I'm glad someone is bringing a camera, because I couldn't go down three, squeezed into such a tight compartment.

Strange, but when I saw the clip on the news last night I thought the same thing, Macfury. Tight places and heights are not my thing. I guess great minds do think alike. Paix, mon ami.

I'm sure it's going to be a tight squeeze, but it won't be three - just Cameron on a solo dive...

Sorry, a misspelling of "there." The photos make the sub look gigantic! I think I would simply be afraid that an error in the delicate pressure balancing requirements would rupture my head!

pretty cool design... Given that the vast majority of the movement the sub is designed for is up/down, it makes sense, but it's very odd-looking.

I've often marvelled at the fact we have better-detailed and more complete maps of the moons of Jupiter than we have of the bottom of Earth's oceans. I can't help thinking that there's lots left to discover down there.

True on many levels bryanc. We haven't fully explored home and we traipse off to the exotic places. I think an unmanned vehicle would be as exciting and far safer.

A manned vehicle is far more exciting!

True on many levels bryanc. We haven't fully explored home and we traipse off to the exotic places. I think an unmanned vehicle would be as exciting and far safer.

The article actually explains why a manned vehicle is better...

While many of the scientific goals Cameron hopes to achieve with the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER could be accomplished with an unmanned sub, he believes the risk is worth it.

Piloting a submersible remotely, "you just don't get a sense of that situational awareness that you have when you're really down there," he said.

HIGP's Fryer agreed, saying a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is no substitute for sending a human-occupied vehicle into the abyss.

"It's like the difference between night and day," Fryer said.

"The critical thing is to be able to take the human mind down into that environment, to be able to turn your head and look around to see what the relationships are between organisms in a community and to see how they're behaving, to turn off all the lights and just sit there and watch and not frighten the animals so that they behave normally.

"That is almost impossible to do with an ROV."

pretty cool design... Given that the vast majority of the movement the sub is designed for is up/down, it makes sense, but it's very odd-looking.

I've often marvelled at the fact we have better-detailed and more complete maps of the moons of Jupiter than we have of the bottom of Earth's oceans. I can't help thinking that there's lots left to discover down there.

Most definitely.

It wasn't until fairly recently that we discovered brine "lakes" and "rivers" on the ocean floor, replete with their own ecosystems and these aren't even in the deepest waters. So it is not hard to imagine that there is much yet to be discovered.

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17gxuq7mgm5hajpg/original.jpg (http://io9.com/5894566/james-cameron-says-the-current-state-of-ocean-exploration-is-****-poor-hes-right)

James Cameron says today's ocean exploration is "**** poor." He's right. (http://io9.com/5894566/james-cameron-says-the-current-state-of-ocean-exploration-is-****-poor-hes-right)

Cameron's descent will be made in a custom-built submersible that he had specially designed for the almost 11,000-meter dive into the most cavernous reaches of the Marianas Trench. Conditions permitting, Cameron hopes to be on the bottom of Challenger Deep by this Wednesday.

Should he succeed, Cameron will become the third person in history to visit the deepest point on Earth. Go ahead and let that figure sink in for a moment. More people have walked on the surface of the Moon than have visited the bottom of the Marianas Trench. We've even been to the Moon more recently than we have the very bottom of the sea — the last (and only) time somebody visited Challenger Deep in person was in 1960. The overwhelming majority of our planet is covered in oceans, and yet we still know so few of their deepest, darkest secrets.

(IO9.com (http://io9.com/5894566/james-cameron-says-the-current-state-of-ocean-exploration-is-****-poor-hes-right))

That's very cool. I don't think I could get in that thing either, due to the overwhelmingly claustrophobic tight space. I'd be screaming, "Lemme OUT - I can't breathe!" and that would probably be before they even lowered it into the water.

If Cameron is hoping to bring some live animals up, I hope he has some technology to keep them under pressure as he rises. Otherwise, wouldn't the deep sea critters explode?

Otherwise, wouldn't the deep sea critters explode?

I think their little blood vessels would burst first.

According to the article, the sub is equipped with traps for deep-sea critters. It also has four (?) rovers that Cameron and/or the crew up top can control.

I think their little blood vessels would burst first.
Sounds painful.


Thankfully, reading the article again, more carefully...

"The animals on the inside are captured" and even after ascent, "still cold, still under pressure," Kevin Hardy, senior development engineer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, and a member of the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE team, told National Geographic.

He was talking here about the unmanned landers, but the technology on the manned sub is likely the same.

If the seas are calm, Cameron goes down this weekend...

James Cameron May Dive Mariana Trench This Weekend, If "Weather Gods" Allow (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120324-james-cameron-mariana-trench-dive-deepest-science-sub/)

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/503/overrides/james-cameron-national-geographic-mariana-trench-touchdown_50300_600x450.jpg (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120324-james-cameron-mariana-trench-dive-deepest-science-sub/)

Expedition astrobiologist Kevin Hand, of NASA, imagines that the life-forms Cameron might encounter could help fine-tune the search for extraterrestrial life.

For instance, scientists think Jupiter's moon Europa could harbor a global ocean beneath its thick shell of ice—an ocean that, like Challenger Deep, would be lightless, near freezing, and home to areas of intense pressure. (See "Could Jupiter Moon Harbor Fish-Size Life?")

And for UT Dallas's Stern, DEEPSEA CHALLENGER's rock-sampling capability offers the opportunity to better understand our planet's inner workings.

"Challenger Deep is the deepest cut into the solid Earth," Stern said, "and this gives us a chance to see deeper into the Earth than anywhere else."

(National Geographic News (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120324-james-cameron-mariana-trench-dive-deepest-science-sub/))

I sure hope nothing bad happens him on this journey. Obviously this is super dangerous territory - and I'd hate to see one of the more talented movie directors of our generation become instant fish food. Judging by many of the movies he's made Mr. Cameron has a real affinity for the Ocean, lets hope that it doesn't kill him!

Not much released so far on Cameron's journey. The few comments post-surfacing were of a "barren, desolate" place, much like the surface of the moon. He had to cut short the dive due to a hydraulic hose failure... apparently the oil was spewing out and covering the forward porthole.

As we wait for updates, have a gander at this cool new animation of the world's currents:

Time-Lapse of Ocean Currents Looks Like a Living Van Gogh Painting (http://gizmodo.com/5896376/time+lapse-of-ocean-currents-looks-like-a-living-van-gogh-painting)

xusdWPuWAoU

(Gizmodo (http://gizmodo.com/5896376/time+lapse-of-ocean-currents-looks-like-a-living-van-gogh-painting))

A unique view of where the Labrador Current and the Gulf Stream converge just off of the tip of Newfoundland .............. where the Titanic sank.