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The Inside Story of Virgin Oceanic's Mission To the Mariana Trench
the_newsbeagle writes "Millionaire adventurer Chris Welsh, the driving force behind Virgin Oceanic, wants to name his sub "Scarlett" after Scarlett Johansson—that's how sexy this vehicle is. Welsh plans to pilot the experimental, cutting-edge sub to the bottom of the Mariana Trench sometime this year, in what would be only the second human descent to the deepest spot in the world's oceans (the first trip down was in 1960). This inside account of the Virgin Oceanic mission describes a team fueled by ego, science, and derring-do, and explains how their high-tech sub could usher in a new kind of marine exploration. The article also tells the story of an adventure on the high seas last summer, when Welsh & co visited the trench to test some robotic deep-sea landers... and ran smack into a typhoon."
Yup. Just let me dig out my Pessimist's Dictionary. I know I have it around here somewhere... ah, there it is.
*a-hem*
"cutting-edge," adj. Like something done decades ago, but not repeated since due to public apathy about science and/or exploration. Usage example: "A cutting-edge mission to the moon would boost patriotism."
I think that Hubble, the Mars rovers, and the upcoming JWST are much bigger accomplishments. Mission to the Moon was the biggest feat at the time, but the world doesn't sit still, yaknow. Hubble and JWST are more complex than the Apollo stack by almost any measure you would select.
A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
The Trieste was a bathyscaphe - a hard sphere hanging from a flotation device.
This is a true submarine - it dives and ascends as a single unit: http://www.virginoceanic.com/vehicles/submersible/
The unmanned Nereus also reached the Challenger Deep, piloted remotely through a fiber optic cable.
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