# Marianas Trench Manned Exploration **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 17, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052 "2007-10-17T16:47:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/1 "2007-10-17T16:47:47Z")
Have there been any more manned expeditions made to the floor of the Marianas Trench since the first attempt? Are there any plans to return there? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/2 "2007-10-17T16:48:33Z")
This is a post in which I resist temptation. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/3 "2007-10-17T16:50:53Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] This is a post in which I resist temptation. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but how long can you keep resisting? Ten minutes? Fifteen? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/4 "2007-10-17T16:56:36Z")
You’re a wicked, wicked person **WF Tomba**. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/5 "2007-10-17T16:59:19Z")
Another manned expedition would be cool, but I’m not sure what advantages it would have, science wise, over unmanned expeditions. From what little I’ve found using google and wikipedia, there don’t seem to be any plans for another expedition. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/6 "2007-10-17T17:00:06Z")
Nope. Just. Once. For…20 minutes. In 1960. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/7 "2007-10-17T17:00:35Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] Yeah, but how long can you keep resisting? Ten minutes? Fifteen? [/QUOTE] I resisted once… ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/8 "2007-10-17T17:03:49Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] I resisted once… [/QUOTE] “I can resist anything but temptation”–Oscar Wilde ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/9 "2007-10-17T17:32:14Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Nope. Just. Once. For…20 minutes. In 1960. [/QUOTE] Do you not realize how much funnier this thread would have been if you hadn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/10 "2007-10-17T17:36:20Z")
Waitaminute! There was a manned visit to the bottom of the Marianas Trench? When, and for how long? This is the first I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/11 "2007-10-17T17:40:50Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Waitaminute! There was a manned visit to the bottom of the Marianas Trench? When, and for how long? This is the first I’ve heard. [/QUOTE] IIRC it was in the 1920’s. The crew died soon after surfacing however. The cause isn’t fully known but suspected to be some type of powerful radiation blast. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/12 "2007-10-17T17:47:17Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] IIRC it was in the 1920’s. The crew died soon after surfacing however. The cause isn’t fully known but suspected to be some type of powerful radiation blast. [/QUOTE] Ah, yes, I remember reading about that in an old Popular Science mag. I think the actual term was something like “an early 20th century anti-life emanation device”. Right? ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/13 "2007-10-17T17:50:19Z")
I pretty sure they wrote a song about it. I’m not sure who sings it, but I think the name of the band is somewhat redundant. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/14 "2007-10-17T17:52:37Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] IIRC it was in the 1920’s. The crew died soon after surfacing however. The cause isn’t fully known but suspected to be some type of powerful radiation blast. [/QUOTE] I believe that a dog was harmed by this, as well. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/15 "2007-10-17T17:55:25Z")
OK, would someone _please_ explain to me all the goddamn in-jokes in this thread? :mad: I get the Death Ray references, but what are **jjimm** and others going on about? Is there a faction (IRL and/or here on the SDMB) that believes we didn’t really explore it? What gives? ---
**Author:** ![SpectBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@SpectBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpectBrain)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/16 "2007-10-17T18:05:14Z")
OK, straight answer as far as exploration. From the Wikipedia page on the Marianas trench: > [@](#): > > The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is planning to send its Nereus hybrid remotely operated vehicle (HROV) to explore the trench in 2007 or 2008 . It won’t be manned, but it will probably stay down longer than 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/17 "2007-10-17T18:06:48Z")
[QUOTE=kitemaker\_chuck] Have there been any more manned expeditions made to the floor of the Marianas Trench since the first attempt? Are there any plans to return there? [/QUOTE] Assuming this is an actual question… A Japanese unmanned craft went there in 1995. ([cite](http://www.marianatrench.com/mariana_trench-exploration_001.htm)) I did find [this article](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n37_v11/ai_17518993) from 1995 indicating a “flying sub” in development whose end goal was to go back. The [Deep Flight](http://deepflight.com/) project has been progressing slowly, but the crafts are freakin’ sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/18 "2007-10-17T18:09:00Z")
[QUOTE=SpectBrain] OK, straight answer as far as exploration. From the Wikipedia page on the Marianas trench: . It won’t be manned, but it will probably stay down longer than 20 minutes. [/QUOTE] And that alone should add more to the exploration than the original one. Which was there in the 1960s. For, well, … ---
**Author:** ![The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Blue-Sighted_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/19 "2007-10-17T18:09:20Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] OK, would someone _please_ explain to me all the goddamn in-jokes in this thread? :mad: I get the Death Ray references, but what are **jjimm** and others going on about? Is there a faction (IRL and/or here on the SDMB) that believes we didn’t really explore it? What gives? [/QUOTE] [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=283407&highlight=marianas+trench) you go. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052/20 "2007-10-17T18:11:10Z")
Well, since everyone got that out of their system. Well, maybe not _everyone._ I, myself, am having trouble resisting, but alas it’s been done. Since this GQ I will answer the question. Yes, it appears there was a mission in 1995 by the Japanese. [Linkus Wikipedius](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_Trench) It looks as though another mission may be planned for this year or the next. …resisting…oh og how I find it hard to resist… ETA: Dammit. Slow to respond. Stupid client just had to call as I was responding to the OP. Yeesh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marianas-trench-manned-exploration/423052.md?page=2)