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Humans Are About to Touch the Deepest Corners of the Ocean for the First Time

posted by martyb on Tuesday November 13 2018, @06:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the why-seven-seconds? dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Business Insider:

[...] In December, explorer and investor Victor Vescovo, along with scientist Alan Jamieson from Newcastle University, are embarking on a groundbreaking mission more than 6.5 miles under the waves. The two are heading out in a new $48 million dollar submarine system to better map the bottom of the world's five oceans.

They're calling the mission, which will be the first time people travel to the bottom of each of the world's seas, "Five Deeps."

"Our depth of ignorance about the oceans is quite dramatic," Vescovo said as he introduced the mission to an audience in New York. "Four of the oceans have never even had a human being go to their bottom. In fact, we don't even know with great certainty where the bottom of the four are."

First up on the five-dive trip will be the Puerto Rico Trench, the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean. It's a spot no human has ever explored, and it's so deep that any communications from the submarine will take seven seconds to travel back up.

The team believes it's possible to find a location deeper than the Challenger Deep.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Username on Tuesday November 13 2018, @01:47PM (3 children)

    by Username (4557) on Tuesday November 13 2018, @01:47PM (#761270)

    Unless hes going to get out of the sub and touch the sea floor.

    Also, Why? Why not just send an RoV? Strap a RTG to that thing and let it float around the sea floor for a decade.

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  • (Score: 1) by ShadowSystems on Tuesday November 13 2018, @11:55PM

    by ShadowSystems (6185) <{ShadowSystems} {at} {Gmail.com}> on Tuesday November 13 2018, @11:55PM (#761505)

    I was going to post something similar.
    Millions of Humans have touched the sea floor, they just haven't been *alive* when they got there.
    Ship sinks, sailors drown, bodies hit the bottom, critters have a feast.
    Now if they had specified *living* Humans get to visit (not touch as that implies no longer being inside a pressure vessel that can keep them from getting turned into a bloody cloud of ichor) THEN they would be telling the truth.

    I'll call my little brother Cthulhu & tell him lunch is coming.
    He loves delivery!

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 14 2018, @08:43AM (1 child)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 14 2018, @08:43AM (#761663) Journal

    Why not just send an RoV?

    What would be the point of that? Seven second delay one-way, remember?

    • (Score: 2) by Username on Wednesday November 14 2018, @12:18PM

      by Username (4557) on Wednesday November 14 2018, @12:18PM (#761705)

      To see what's there. They got little rovers on mars, but sending one to the sea floor, that's just absurd eh?