Race to the Bottom of the Sea

Two international teams are gearing up to get to the bottom of the sea. It has been 52 years since two men descended 11,034 meters or 36,200 feet to land at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. More men have landed on the moon than have visited these abysmal depths.

The two contenders are:

1. The Canadian Hollywood director James Cameron using the more familiar bathysphere design:



2. The British magnate Richard Branson using a sexier looking craft that looks like it could also fly:



These craft will be put to the ultimate test as they try to reach the crushing depths of the Mariana Trench.

The following illustrates the magnitude of the feat they will be attempting:



Both men are used to success, who will you be placing your bets on? Regardless, both should be applauded for their bravery and for expanding the frontiers of ocean exploration.

www.vancouversun.com...
news.nationalpost.com...
tritonsubs.com...

My money is on Mr. Branson. The guy may be alittle on the eclectic side but he sure knows what the hell he doing. The guy is a calculated risk taker. The problem with this endevour is that, who knows what we're gonna find down there.

Im not afraid of many things but being miles from the surface, in a place that no one has ever been and with tons of water ready to crush you into dust with the slightest craft malfunction.
Yeah that scares me. There is no amount of money in the world that could get me to go down there.

Go gettum Branson!
Let us know what ya find you crazy SOB.

reply to post by Talltexxxan


It will be interesting to see what kind of life they find there. It will have to have adapted to one of the most harsh environments on Earth. Extremophile microbes, weird looking fish and shrimps. Possible clues to the origin of life.

I hope they take pictures.

My bet is on Cameron to get there first, but I hope they both make it.

Thanks for sharing!

Richard Branson is just unstoppable, he does what we'd all do if we had the money. . He has that many products under the virgin brand he must wake up thinking what can i take over today!? He's got Airlines, trains, mobile phones, bank/financial services, films, media/tv, music labels/production/radio, gyms, commercial space flight, and many many more, and now this! Before we know it, Branson will be shipping people to the bottom of the ocean, with the choice of staying the night in the Virgin hotel at the bottom of the ocean

Really, I think Branson wont stop until Virgin colonizes mars, space flights there with in flight cinema, gym, gaming, you name it. Mars renamed Virgin with everything on the planet been of the brand Virgin, maybe you would even have to be a virgin to get there(?)

With Branson's dedication tot he Virgin brand, i can honestly picture all I'v just said and more. Hands down I think when he accomplishes this task of getting to the bottom of the ocean, even if not there first, he will go one step further than Cameron and make it accessible to all, stick the Virgin brand on it then sit back Oh no wait Branson doesn't sit or sleep, no doubt he will get onto dominating the next thing, like - the core of the earth or something, who knows!

They are both incredibly brave, all extreme explorers should be applauded for going where the 99.8% would not dare. I can't wait to see what they find, already the deep ocean has provided us with astonishing sights and creatures that amaze. I hope they both succeed!

I appreciate both their efforts to try and see whats down there. I wish them the best with saftey and OPEN MINDS SIDE NOTE CAN WE GET SOME ATTENTION ON THE BALTIC SEA WHATEVER IT IS??

Here's some information on the only manned submarine ever to get to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

The Trieste was basically a floating gasoline tank with a hardened sphere attached to the bottom:





The sphere was almost 13 cm or 5 inches thick and could withstand 1.25 metric tons per square cm.

The gasoline provided buoyancy yet was not easily compressed so the main structure did not need to be thick.

The Trieste made it's famous dive on Jan. 23, 1960. It was manned the Swiss Oceanographer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh. It took the Trieste almost 5 hours to get to the bottom, and spent only 20 minutes on the ocean floor. It was subsequently sold to the US Navy.

en.wikipedia.org...

Cameron's design is more conventional than Branson's design and may currently have the edge. Rumors in articles linked in the OP suggest that technical problems with the deep diving submarine that Branson chose may allow Cameron to get to the bottom first.

But the race is still on and anything can happen.

Quite scary to think Branson's craft has no escape pod, no?

Originally posted by wWizard
Quite scary to think Branson's craft has no escape pod, no?

One way trip maybe, let's hope not. Still it means technical issues are more serious.

I've read somewhere that Branson will probably not be the pilot for the dive.

Found it, the man who will pilot the Branson craft is Chris Welsh.

www.bbc.co.uk...

reply to post by Nicolas Flamel


lol the insurance for his trip would be more than the trip itself... LOL obviously he isn't ROFL

reply to post by Nicolas Flamel


Thanx for the graphic,showing the awesome depth of this trench!

I am sure most people on the planet know of the Mariannes Trench,but can most of them actually envisage the sheer depth of it!

Mind boggling!

I think Branson's craft is not even close to being strong enough by the looks of it. With his money you would think he would invest in a rock solid craft with no chance of failing or being stuck down there. I know if I were going I would make it to where I could stay down awhile and see the sites. They better pray they don't run to any horny,hungry Giant Squid or Octopi.

Branson's ship looks like its coming back as one solid piece.

=/

reply to post by boncho


Branson's craft looks a bit too general purpose for the exteme edge of depth. Also the canopy is facing up and the fusilage of the craft blocks the view of the sea bottom.

Cameron's craft looks like the winner. Both to get there and to see something new.

Can't they just e-mail Aquaman? That has to be easier if they have questions to ask.
Second line.

Didn't the one guy that went to the bottom of the ocean go insane and came up saying everything was alive

Originally posted by WanderingThe3rd
Didn't the one guy that went to the bottom of the ocean go insane and came up saying everything was alive

They described what Piccard called clouds of milky “diatomaceous ooze” that was stirred up when they landed. They said they also saw:

Through the swirling clouds of agitated silt and sediment the pair could make out a flatfish which had been disturbed by the vehicle’s unexpected touchdown. They also spotted some shrimp and jellyfish swimming nearby.

Marine biologists at the time said this was impossible since when they landed the pressure was 17,000 lbs per square inch, and they said fish couldn't survive that much pressure.

The Trieste almost never made it. When it got to 30,000 feet down, the pressure was 16,000 psi, and a crack appeared on the outside pane of the observation window. They continued on however and landed at about 36,000 feet. They finally started to worry about the crack and only stayed 20 minutes on the bottom.

Steely-Eyed Hydronauts of the Mariana

I'm betting there is complex life down there, the marine biologists just have to catch up.

Is there no pictures/film of the first time the Trieste went down there?

reply to post by Nicolas Flamel


Very cool... S&F

reminded me of this...

Originally posted by Semicollegiate
reply to post by boncho

 

Branson's craft looks a bit too general purpose for the exteme edge of depth. Also the canopy is facing up and the fusilage of the craft blocks the view of the sea bottom.

Cameron's craft looks like the winner. Both to get there and to see something new.

On the contrary, Branson's design is perfect for lateral movement once you get to the bottom. It can orient itself any way it wants if it finds something interesting. The other design looks much harder to rapidly get to a different location.
Time down there is critical, you gotta cover a lot of ground to explore effectively with the allotted time factor. As far as structural integrity.. well one would think that with his engineering genius, and with so much to live for, he will not take a risk like that in something that has not been spec'd to the gills. Good luck to both, but Branson is a hero to me in that he just oozes confidence in his designs.