Class in Session Above Titanic
June 5, 2004
This image shows the enclosed promenade beneath the boat deck of the port side bow section of the Titanic. Rusticles hang from openings that used to hold windows. It is photographed 6/1/2004 by ROV Hercules.
Video image © Institute for Exploration/University of Rhode Island
Other than a few mechanical hiccups, the ROV Hercules has gotten good reviews from scientists. Meanwhile, its photos are sparking plenty of questions from curious schoolchildren. Dr. Robert D. Ballard, leader of the Return to Titanic expedition, said Hercules and its relay vehicle/lighting platform, Argus, repeatedly have demonstrated their superiority to manned submersibles.
First, under ideal conditions, they can stay down indefinitely.
Second, they can get closer to Titanic than bulky submersibles, yet hover without touching the endangered ship. Dr. Ballard said Herc demonstrated this skill when it plucked a scientific experiment station from the boat deck without bumping the bow.
"Submersibles are like bulls in a china shop, and the china is getting broken," Dr. Ballard said. He has found evidence of submersible strikes on Titanic's bow section, and said holes are appearing in the deck where visitors repeatedly land.
Third, vehicles such as Argus and Hercules don't put human lives at risk in the incredible pressures at Titanic's depth.
Finally, the fiber-optic signals from the cameras aboard Herc and Argus, sent to the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown, are relayed by an antenna on the bow to a communications satellite to be shared with distant viewers. The signal is received by EDS Corp. of Plano, Texas, and sent to selected museums, schools, aquariums, and other sites. Live video feeds allow schoolchildren to ask questions of the scientists on the Titanic expedition and get answers in real time.
(The largest audience for live video from Titanic will tune in at 9 p.m. ET/PT Monday, when the National Geographic Channel airs Return to Titanic.)
That final advantage took the spotlight Friday, as Dr. Ballard and other scientists began hosting a series of programs with students in the United States. Schoolchildren participating in the JASON Foundation for Education's Titanic program are learning the same geometry skills that navigators have used during this expedition.
NOAA Lt. (j.g.) Jeremy Weirich, who helps coordinate navigation of the remote vehicles with the Ron Brown and serves as the expedition's chief archaeologist, answered questions from students in Wisconsin and Michigan during Immersion Project webcasts.
Weirich has a master's degree in archaeology from the University of Southampton in England. He said he sometimes is asked why an archaeologist would explore Titanic, considering that scientists and historians already know a great deal about the ship's construction and contents.
"There's not a lot of historical or archaeological knowledge we could get, but there's a heck of a lot to learn about science," he said. "Titanic is a great test bed for analyzing shipwrecks."
Titanic's bow sank virtually intact and has been degrading much more slowly than the wrecked stern section. Both have been attacked by microorganisms, buffeted by currents, and dusted with "sea snow," the organic particles that settle on the ocean floor. What scientists learn about Titanic is expected to help them explore and preserve other shipwrecks, Weirich said.
The mechanical arm Hercules uses to pick up objects and drop them in its bio box acted up early this week, and again during the fourth dive late Thursday after it received a new cylinder.
Institute for Exploration engineer Brennan Phillips said the arm turned "screwball" and refused commands from Herc's pilot. The arm smacked the frame holding the ROV's mosaicing cameras, knocking them out of alignment.
Herc has a second arm ? "dumber and stronger" than the persnickety one, said IFE engineer Jim Newman ? but it cannot reach the bio box.
Repair work performed during a driving rainstorm Friday morning replaced the part believed to be faulty in the main arm. A new frame was installed and the cameras repositioned.
Herc and Argus made their fifth dive, toward the bow, late Friday. The arm then worked fine when Herc reached the ocean floor.
(Note: nationalgeographic.com does not research or edit dispatches.)
