Hey! We went back to the Marianas Trench! (Oh, and there was some freaky cool stuff too)

[phouka]

I think they must have stayed more than twenty minutes this time.

Linky.

They found a one celled organism that was more than four inches long!

[CalMeacham]

Actually, according to that report, it was unmanned submersibles that were sent down. So no one has been back there, for even one minute.

It’s still impressive. According to the Wikipedia article (soon to be updated, no doubt), there have only been two unmanned expeditions since that first descent, not counting this one. So that’s something.

Descents
January 23, 1960: Trieste just before the diveThe Swiss-designed, Italian-built, United States Navy bathyscaphe Trieste reached the bottom at 1:06 p.m. on January 23, 1960, with U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard on board.[4] Iron shot was used for ballast, with gasoline for buoyancy.[4] The onboard systems indicated a depth of 11,521 m (37,799 ft), but this was later revised to 10,916 m (35,814 ft).[10] At the bottom, Walsh and Piccard were surprised to discover sole or flounder about 30 cm (1 ft) long,[10] as well as a shrimp.[1] According to Piccard, “The bottom appeared light and clear, a waste of firm diatomaceous ooze”.[10]

Only three descents have ever been achieved. The first was the manned descent by Trieste in 1960. This was followed by the unmanned ROVs Kaikō in 1996 and Nereus in 2009. These three expeditions directly measured very similar depths of 10,902 to 10,916 m.

Mariana Trench

[Cryptic_C62]

Wow, that one-celled organism is longer than my…

…finger.

[phouka]

Dammit. I really wanted people down there. Ah, well. I guess we have to start somewhere.