So the big news on Guam lately is the exploration of the Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the ocean in the world. The trench runs north-south and is located southeast of Guam. The deepest part of the trench is called Challenger Deep. It's about 7 miles below sea level. They say you could drop Mt. Everest down there and the summit of the mountain wouldn't even come close to sea level. A whole team of engineers, scientists, and support crew were here on Guam to help with the exploration. About 60 people in total plus all the media covering the expedition. At the center of the team is the film director James Cameron of Avatar and Titanic fame. He picked up the bill for this project which included the construction of a one man submarine equipped with several cameras, lights, and scientific instruments. The total cost of the expedition is undisclosed but with seven years of engineering, planning, and construction already, I'm sure its a ridiculous amount.
Joey and I went to a house of some of my classmates for a bbq a couple weekends ago and were pleasantly surprised to find out several members of the expedition team were to be there. We met some really nice scientists and engineers who arrived on Guam the night before. They had been in Australia for a month constructing some of the equipment and then another month on a boat for the long trip to Guam. Needless to say, some of them were a little homesick. Their time on Guam was only extended because the days they were planning on sending James and his sub to the bottom of the ocean, turned out to be very windy and high surf.
On Monday, the team finally got their chance to send the sub down. They started the 1.5 hour descent early in the morning. The plan was for Mr. Cameron to spend about 6 hours filming and taking samples before returning to the surface. Due to battery issues, he was only able to spend about 3 hours on the bottom before making the decision to surface. He is only the 3rd person to visit the bottom of the trench. Back in the 60's, two guys went down in a submarine but spent only a few minutes before returning to the top. The descent took them several hours and once they reached the bottom, their submarine stirred up so much silt that "it was like looking into a bowl of milk." One of the men who went down on that trip was on the boat with Mr. Cameron as he went down to the bottom of the trench. When asked how this expedition is different from the one 50 years ago, he said "Its the difference between the Wright Brothers and a 747."
This is particularly exciting for me and my peers because this is the cutting edge of scientific exploration. Mankind knows more about the surface of Mars than they do about the bottom of the sea. Exploration like this doesn't happen much, especially in today's financial climate. But this is the type of stuff that got me interested in science as a kid. It still gets me excited today. My interest in science is what brought us to Guam. Hopefully my peers and I can continue the exploration for our fellow man.
Joey and I went to a house of some of my classmates for a bbq a couple weekends ago and were pleasantly surprised to find out several members of the expedition team were to be there. We met some really nice scientists and engineers who arrived on Guam the night before. They had been in Australia for a month constructing some of the equipment and then another month on a boat for the long trip to Guam. Needless to say, some of them were a little homesick. Their time on Guam was only extended because the days they were planning on sending James and his sub to the bottom of the ocean, turned out to be very windy and high surf.
On Monday, the team finally got their chance to send the sub down. They started the 1.5 hour descent early in the morning. The plan was for Mr. Cameron to spend about 6 hours filming and taking samples before returning to the surface. Due to battery issues, he was only able to spend about 3 hours on the bottom before making the decision to surface. He is only the 3rd person to visit the bottom of the trench. Back in the 60's, two guys went down in a submarine but spent only a few minutes before returning to the top. The descent took them several hours and once they reached the bottom, their submarine stirred up so much silt that "it was like looking into a bowl of milk." One of the men who went down on that trip was on the boat with Mr. Cameron as he went down to the bottom of the trench. When asked how this expedition is different from the one 50 years ago, he said "Its the difference between the Wright Brothers and a 747."
This is particularly exciting for me and my peers because this is the cutting edge of scientific exploration. Mankind knows more about the surface of Mars than they do about the bottom of the sea. Exploration like this doesn't happen much, especially in today's financial climate. But this is the type of stuff that got me interested in science as a kid. It still gets me excited today. My interest in science is what brought us to Guam. Hopefully my peers and I can continue the exploration for our fellow man.
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