Watch Video
Know Cameron
Know Mariana Trench
James Cameron, the well-known film director, created history by diving deep to the deepest point of the earth all alone! He became the first person to make a solo visit to the Mariana Trench's Challenger Deep in the western Pacific on March 26 at 7:52am local time. Cameron described his record-breaking dive as "going to another planet".
The nearly 10.9km (7-mile) dive was made possible by the Deepsea Challenger, a specially-designed submersible. It was a long, thin vehicle, which Cameron calls a "vertical torpedo". It was specially built to withstand the immense pressure at the ocean floor. It took over two hours to reach the bottom.
When he finally reached bottom, he sent the anxious crew on the support vessel Mermaid Sapphire the welcome message: "All systems OK."
He spent nearly six hours in the trench. He'll also be able to use the sub's manipulator arm to gather samples for the eager scientists waiting up above. Cameron found no large creatures there - only small shrimp-like animals that were an inch in length.
The craft, which weighs 11 tonnes and is more than 7m long, was built after researches for about seven years in secret. The tiny compartment in which Cameron sat in is made from thick steel, which is able to resist the 1,000 atmospheres of pressure he experienced at full ocean depth. The rest of the vertical column is made from a material called syntactic foam - a solid made of hollow "microballoons" - giving it enough buoyancy to float back up. The sub has so many lights with Cameron was able to see and shoot the proceeding there under. It also has robotic arms, allowing him to collect samples of rocks and soils from the ocean depth. He also intends to release a documentary.
This is only the second manned expedition to the ocean's deepest depths - the first took place in 1960 when US Navy Lt Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard spent about 20 minutes on the ocean floor in a bathyscaphe called the Trieste. Lt Walsh, who is now in his 80s, joined Mr Cameron and his team of engineers out at sea for the dive.
 |
| Lt. Don Walsh(bottom) and Jacques Piccard (center) in the bathyscaphe Trieste |
