James Cameron begins deepest dive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17503395

by ed209 • 14 years ago

328 70 14 years ago

bbc.co.uk

darxius• 14 years ago

I don't understand, has he left yet?

Either way, this is awesome! I can't wait to see what lies at those depths. I would love to know how the engineers who build the new vessel fixed the silt issue.

softbuilder3• 14 years ago

Looks like he's started descent.

And I read another article that had more diagrams (maybe Wired?) that showed the propulsion on the craft is at the top, and the pilot space is on the bottom. I guess that solves the silt problem.

softbuilder3• 14 years ago

Guts.

softbuilder3• 14 years ago

Funny, because I originally wrote out a long-winded comment about how I can imagine doing everything he's done except doing the actually descent myself, because of the incredible bravery. Then I realized my entire train of thought could best be summarized in one word. But of course if it doesn't come packaged in longwinded, pseudoacademic gibberish, HN won't like it. Lesson learned.

yew2• 14 years ago

Think more that as I am not inside your head, I do not have the slightest clue as to what your one-word post is intended to communicate.

omarchowdhury• 14 years ago

I don't know what you mean by pseduoacademic, we all include citations around here!

dandelany• 14 years ago

Paul Allen's Twitter seems to be a good source of up-to-the-minute news on the dive: https://twitter.com/#!/PaulGAllen

He says he's on "Octopus," which I assume is one of the support vessels. Aparently Cameron's sub has just touched down on the seabed, Allen's latest tweet:

#deepseachallenge hit bottom at 0752 local time "All systems ok"

and a few minutes before that:

"Now on the bottom 35755 ft!! Plan is for #Deepseachallenge to spend 4-6 hours on the seabed- take samples....Huge Congrats what a relief!!!"

Very exciting!

marcelvr• 14 years ago

Octopus is Paul's yacht: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus_(yacht)

Danieru• 14 years ago

One of his yachts.

bradhe2• 14 years ago

"yacht"

jordanb• 14 years ago

Man, whenever I see Paul Allen whining about Gates or Ballmer, I think, it sure is curious way to screw someone over: turning them into a billionaire.

6ren• 14 years ago

Now on the way up (18m ago); now surfaced.

samstave2• 14 years ago

They should have had a 737 communicating with the sub, tweeting it, at -35755 Feet below sea level - that is the same distance that commercial airlines cruise at.

They would have had the world record for "longest vertical distance between two terrestrial crafts communicating with one another"

mseebach• 14 years ago

Why is a commercial airline more terrestrial than a space shuttle or the Apollo Command Module? /pedantry

michael_nielsen3• 14 years ago

The official Twitter account: https://twitter.com/#!/DeepChallenge

According to tweets from @PaulGAllen and @PeterDiamandis, Deep Challenge should arrive at the bottom around 14:40 PST.

Edit (14:50 PST): No word from @PaulGAllen since 14:20 PST, when he noted Cameron was at 32160 feet and "not long to seabead now". I hope the people on the support crew are just really busy because Cameron is touching down on the bottom!

davidpardo• 14 years ago

He's on the bottom right now. Latest @jimcameron tweet: "Just arrived at the ocean's deepest pt. Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can't wait to share what I'm seeing w/ you @DeepChallenge"

michael_nielsen3• 14 years ago

Awesome! According to @PaulGAllen, they hit at 0752 local time, and "all systems ok"!

sek3• 14 years ago

I have deep respect for this guy. He really cares about these things and makes a living out of it. I share his fascination with the sea and exploration. He really has a message with his movies, but unfortunately not understood by everyone.

ojbyrne6• 14 years ago

Um, I don't think "not understood" is correct. More like not wanting to be hammered over the head with his simplistic, fable-like, morals.

ojbyrne6• 14 years ago

I should have been clearer. I still like his movies, but they're not terribly deep. Entertaining for sure.

What he's doing now is obviously pretty damn impressive.

InclinedPlane• 14 years ago

Some of his movies are good. Some of his movies are intentionally crafted solely for popularity (Titanic, for example). When doing so results in multi-billion dollar revenues can you really blame the guy?

maeon3• 14 years ago

Creatures down there have been separated from life up here for ever, we need to get the DNA sequenced for some of them, we may find some shocking discoveries of our ancestors 500 million years ago. Are there plans to bring back animal samples?

brandall10• 14 years ago

It says "It also has robotic arms, allowing him to collect samples of rocks and soils".

So a definitely maybe :)

pclark• 14 years ago

It is very difficult to collect animal samples from such great depths - the pressure difference.

It is one of the reasons as to why giant squids are so mysterious.

DanBC2• 14 years ago

He has pressurised containers for samples.

gort• 14 years ago

Hmm. If anything I'd expect them to have evolved a lot of interesting deep-sea adaptations that should render them rather unlike our 500 MYA ancestors... remember they've had just as long to evolve to their peculiar environment as we have.

Still, you've got me thinking about this question. I would think the present-day fish that most resembles our ancestor of that time ought to be something less exotic. Perhaps something like a hagfish.

bradhe2• 14 years ago

Lift at that depth is few and far between.

maaku• 14 years ago

How do you know?

jonniekang• 14 years ago

I really hope he finds a UFO or some sea-dwelling people.

avar• 14 years ago

He just landed on the bottom at -10.9 km: https://twitter.com/PaulGAllen/status/184037895819112448

michael_nielsen3• 14 years ago

Cameron hit the bottom at 14:52 PST, according to @PaulGAllen, and "all systems ok".

Here's Cameron's tweet announcing his arrival: "Just arrived at the ocean's deepest pt. Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can't wait to share what I'm seeing w/ you @DeepChallenge"

https://twitter.com/#!/JimCameron/status/184036733959143425

excuse-me• 14 years ago

Am digging through black lifeless seabed mud and ooze - hope to find script for next movie.

ojbyrne6• 14 years ago

Actually the phrase "teeming with life" has been used to describe where he is: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/science-technology/Deep-...

cop359• 14 years ago

Does anyone know how they communicate with the sub?

My understanding is that radio waves can't penetrate water very far (if at all) and that it's impractical to drag a long cable down.

apaprocki• 14 years ago

From Paul Allen:

"#deepseachallenge for the curious, using underwater audio coms UT2000/3000 at 8K freq to hear/talk to Jim five miles of water...30K ft now"

Isamu3• 14 years ago

"The UT 3000 is the very first underwater communication system combining analogue and digital communication in one unit. In addition to the telephony and telegraphy mode, the UT 3000 offers unique features such as own noise measurement, horizontal distance measurement and transmission of SOS signals.

"The new digital mode for the first time allows fast and reliable transmission of digital data in water. The possibilities for digital data transfer are nearly unlimited. In the future, own position data, SMS, maneuver reports or target data can be exchanged between submarines in a more secure way.

http://www.naval-technology.com/contractors/sonar/l-3_comm/

http://www.elac-nautik.de/products-naval_acoustics-underwate...

Also: according to the UT 3000 MASQ brochure, it can transmit at up to 1000 bits/sec from 12km to 17km

Edit more: the brochure says the communication protocol overhead is typically 20%. Error correction is included - and features "excellent burst noise rejection". I would think underwater burst noise could be quite long. Would this require an interleaved code? Could someone comment on this?

moylan• 14 years ago

something like this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwater_telephone

very hard to find info on how it works or at what ranges. but this suggests that it shifts sounds down to lower pitches to travel further. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modulated_ultrasound

lwat• 14 years ago

I can't wait to see what he manages to film down there!

MatthewPhillips2• 14 years ago

Old media: http://www.cnn.com/

New media: https://twitter.com/#!/i/discover

Guess which one isn't covering this historic event.

ojbyrne6• 14 years ago

http://nytimes.com has a story on their front page, top middle.

MatthewPhillips2• 14 years ago

Underneath the all important Arnold Palmer Invitational results headline article.

dagw• 14 years ago

Front and center at the top of cnn.com as I type this.

danberger• 14 years ago

How awesome is it that he is tweeting from the deepest point on earth?

jacob1• 14 years ago

It's neat, but keep in mind that we had live video from the moon in the 60's.

X-Istence• 14 years ago

Water poses an entirely different issue for radio waves than the emptiness of space.

mladenkovacevic• 14 years ago

And this is one of the few events since then that are capable of exciting as much wonder and curiosity. I wasn't alive during the Apollo program but this probably brings me close to the sheer jaw dropping awe I would've experienced had I enjoyed the opportunity to watch the moon landings on tv.

Isamu3• 14 years ago

They mention the hull is made of "syntactic foam".

It seems this is a composite of (glass,ceramic,etc) microspheres in a resin matrix. They mention in the bbc video that they glue blocks together and machine them somehow - how does one machine such a composite?

More on syntactic foam: http://www.crgrp.com/technology/materialsportfolio/syntactic...

[edit] yet more:

"Syntactic foam flotation products are available in formulations for shallow water foam to those capable of reaching the bottom of the Mariana Trench."

http://www.esyntactic.com/

"The HZ Grade of syntactic has been formulated to survive the deepest depths of the ocean. This class of syntactic will survive crush pressures greater than 20,000 psi making for safe operation in the Hadal Zone.

http://www.esyntactic.com/dwsfs.htm

Isamu3• 14 years ago

So they say the pilot sphere is thick steel. How do they run the control wiring to the outside? Or could the control signals sent through transducers (e.g. ultrasonic?)

bbatsell• 14 years ago

They use electrical penetrators such as these: http://seaconworldwide.com/products/penetrators/penetrators/

They are listed as one of the main points of failure on the dive's website: http://deepseachallenge.com/the-expedition/deepsea-challenge...

ivankirigin• 14 years ago

What a hero

pepsi• 14 years ago

Almost done with ascent:

#deepseachallenge sub now at 700M rising.

https://twitter.com/#!/PaulGAllen/status/184095201709662208

Medicine• 14 years ago

he is back

dredmorbius• 14 years ago

DEEPSEA CHALLENGE Expedition Risks & Dangers document describes various possible failure modes of the mission, and answers a few questions below. E.g.: "penetrator failure" addresses electrical connectivity through the survival sphere.

I found the hyperthermia/hypothermia risk interesting. The survival sphere is not temperature controlled, and will adjust to ambient. With equipment heating, that's over 100F and 100% relative humidity at the surface in the tropics. At depth, ambient water temperatures are just above 0C (32F).

http://www.scribd.com/document_downloads/86673244?extension=...

James Cameron begins deepest dive

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