# I'll bet He Plans to go for more than Twenty Minutes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 5, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304 "2011-04-05T18:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/1 "2011-04-05T18:41:27Z")
Richard Branson plans to ride a sub to the bottom of the Marianas Trench: [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110405/ap\_on\_re\_us/us\_richard\_branson\_venture](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110405/ap_on_re_us/us_richard_branson_venture) > [@](#): > > NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Billionaire adventurer Richard Branson announced Tuesday that he plans to travel to one of the deepest parts of the ocean in a single-person submarine. > > Branson said that over the next two years, the solo craft will go to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic’s Puerto Rico Trench and South Sandwich Trench, the Diamantina Trench in the Indian Ocean and the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/2 "2011-04-05T19:02:26Z")
It’s been done . . . ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/3 "2011-04-05T19:18:49Z")
Cool, sorta. Damn billionaires. This is one (and perhaps the only one) of those rarely done “great feats” that IMO could have been replicated by some middle class person with some determination, smarts, and a pair of big brass ones. There goes the only good singles bar pick up line I ever had even a remote chance of using… ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/4 "2011-04-05T20:25:20Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > quote]Billionaire adventurer Richard Branson announced Tuesday that he plans to travel to one of the deepest parts of the ocean in a single-person submarine. > > Branson said that over the next two years, the solo craft will go to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic’s Puerto Rico Trench and South Sandwich Trench, the Diamantina Trench in the Indian Ocean and the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean. [/QUOTE] “One of”? There’s two things wrong with that. First, the Marianas Trench is _the_ deepest\*, not one of the deepest, secondly, they listed 5 trenches. That doesn’t classify as “one of” to me. “Five of the deepest” would fix both (and maybe throw in a “(the deepest point on the Earth’s surface)” after the mention of the Marianas Trench.) > [@billfish678](#): > > Damn billionaires. This is one (and perhaps the only one) of those rarely done “great feats” that IMO could have been replicated by some middle class person with some determination, smarts, and a pair of big brass ones. I would say, based on other stunts, Branson does indeed have a pair of big brass ones. (Just is not “middle class”) > [@billfish678](#): > > There goes the only good singles bar pick up line I ever had even a remote chance of using… 😕 Which was … ? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/5 "2011-04-05T20:37:38Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > 😕 Which was … ? Nothing fancy. Just that I was (well, theorectically could have been) one of a very, very few people that had been to the deepest part of the ocean. Not that some smooth operator couldn’t come up with some slickly worded pick up line for women in bars involving going to the “trench”. I have no doubt the great minds of the SDMB are hard at work on this even as I type 🙂 Keep in mind its pretty much theorectical, but its at least one of those “great things I could do” that I (or a bunch of other folks for that matter) "could’ actually do without a shitload of luck or money or superhuman skill/intelligence/endurance. Honestly, in the recent past, I’ve actually considered starting a thread on how hard/easy would it be for a slightly above average joe to get his/hers 20 minutes down there. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/6 "2011-04-05T21:18:42Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Honestly, in the recent past, I’ve actually considered starting a thread on how hard/easy would it be for a slightly above average joe to get his/hers 20 minutes down there. That would be an awesome thread to read. (Please specify that the ship needs to be capable of sailing from Rio (where the communally-owned base is located); have the capacity to grasp small, circular confectioneries to bring back to the surface; test minerals for amorphous forms of silica; and be made out of bacon.) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/7 "2011-04-05T22:05:14Z")
What, no death ray? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/8 "2011-04-07T11:04:16Z")
[http://www.metro.co.uk/news/860192-sir-richard-branson-plans-solo-dive-in-flying-submarine](http://www.metro.co.uk/news/860192-sir-richard-branson-plans-solo-dive-in-flying-submarine) Sir Richard Branson will visit the deepest part of the world’s oceans, just once, in his sixties. The duration of the planned stay on the sea bed is not yet known, but I wouldn’t expect it to be more than half an hour. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/9 "2011-04-07T11:06:42Z")
Damn it, I thought this would have been mentioned but I searched for “Branson” and nothing! Searched for “Marianas” after posting this and found [a thread from a couple of days ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=603501&highlight=Marianas). Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/10 "2011-04-07T11:09:54Z")
Merged threads. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-bet-he-plans-to-go-for-more-than-twenty-minutes/577304/11 "2011-04-07T14:37:31Z")
Here’s hoping he doesn’t stir up dust, and totally obscure his view for the entire duration of his stay.