Submersible+Science!+Submersible+Discoveries!

= Submersible Science! Submersible Discoveries! Most people have seen the huge iron-clad submarine that takes the heroes of "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" to the deepest darkest parts of the ocean, or the one that is powered by a glowing rock in the movie "Dinotopia". These fantastical creations from someone's imagination are mostly fiction and hardly contribute to the science and technology that go into making submarines and submersibles now. What is the Difference Between Submarines and Submersibles? = Underwater vehicles are called submersibles or, "airtight, rigid diving machines designed for exploration while completely submerged." They can be manned or remotely controlled. When Submersibles are designed for warfare they are called submarines. These submarines possess streamlined hulls constructed to make them go faster.

The History of Submersibles The first known design and idea of a submersible came from sketches that Leonardo da Vinci drew up. Then, almost 60 years later a british man named William Bourne drew plans for a submarine. However, it was only in 1620 that Cornelius van Drebbel, a Dutch inventor, built a one. His submarine consisted of a wooden rowboat wrapped in grease-soaked waterproof leather. He attached air tubes on floats to the surface of the water to provide oxygen. Since there were no engines to propel them, oars were placed in leather gaskets at the hull. His first trip was taken in the Thames River, where he and the oarsmen stayed submerged for three hours! The first submarine intended to be used for military purposes was built in 1776 by David Bushnell, an American student studying at Yale. He dubbed it the "Turtle", and the one-man wooden submarine was used during the American Revolution against British warships. But because underwater explosive weren't developed much at all the Turtle didn't do much damage. The submarines that followed during the nineteenth century were larger in size but still bulky and not very maneuverable. However, periscopes were added to most submarines so the crew could view things above the water. In the 1890's two American inventors raced to make the first petroleum engine-run submarine. They also invented torpedoes propelled underwater by small engines, a weapon that became the most dangerous in the world. The first nuclear powered submarine, the [|USS Nautilus], was built in 1955. Its first voyage was in 1958 under the polar ice pack, a journey made in six days. Early //submersible//s were called bathyscaphs after the Greek roots for deep and boat or bathyspheres meaning deep-diving spheres. These submersibles were suspended from the host ship at the surface of the water on steel cords. These saucers were a specialty of the French and used hydro-jets to maneuver through the water. A later bathysphere named the //Cyana// was used in 1974 in exploration of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and its deep rift valley.

The Modern Submersible //As I looked down I realized I was looking toward a world of life almost as unknown as that of Mars.// //William Beebe ,1930//

[|ROVs], Remotely Operated Vehicles, were developed in the 1950's and are used to gather information about previously inaccessible depths. They were first used to locate Navy submarine wrecks but scientific and commercial groups tend to use them now. The latest submersibles are robotic and are not manned. These vehicles are called [|AUVs] //(//autonomous underwater vehicles) and are sometimes used to check on the periodic growth of seabed's. There are two very special submersibles named the MIR submersibles. They are owned by the Russian Academy of Sciences and are the second deepest diving submersibles in the world. They can reach a maximum depth of 6000 metres(19,680 feet) making it possible to reach 98% of the world's oceans. My question is: What is in that other 2% that we haven't discovered yet? The outside shell of the MIR's is made of special nickel steel and designed to withstand enormous amounts of pressure. The sites of the discovery of hydrothermal vent life and chemosynthesis were visited for the first time by the MIR's.

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The People **Charles William Beebe** He designed the first practical bathysphere and worked as a curator at a zoo before he became interested in the underwater exploration. He and Otis Barton made a record descent to 923 metres. Barton invented his own deep diving helmet and weighted himself down with rocks to explore Massachusetts waters. Barton contacted Beebe with a design for a submersible and they found a host ship to lower them down. After reaching maximum depth they stayed there for only three minutes before the ship began to hoist them up. Beebe made observations about the weird and eerie creatures they encountered but was condemned for years with misleading people. However, later pictures of the creatures affirmed what he saw and Beebe was credited with the discovery. **Auguste and Jacques Piccard** Jacques and Auguste were father and son both Swiss, and engaged in a battle against French/Belgian FNRS to beat their last depth 1,500 metres. They then set the new record of 3,100 metres only to be limited by the depth of the Mediterranean Sea. The Navy then joined the race and offered to buy the Piccard's bathyscaphe so they could attempt world records in the Pacific Ocean. Ultimately, there goal was to explore into Challenger Deep, the deepest hole in the Mariana Trench. Jacques Piccard was part of the two-man crew, and they descended at the speed of an elevator into the 11,400 metre deep hole. They reached the deepest point on earth and the ocean was open to more thorough exploration. [|MORE people!] Not only are the discoveries of modern submersibles important to scientists and commercial companies, they are important to people who don't have much to do with the ocean as well. These discoveries show us that not everything in the world has been discovered. There are still the dark unexplored places in the world where human kind has not yet looked into. media type="youtube" key="k2S3lP0X6Qc?fs=1" height="241" width="302"media type="youtube" key="pHuvs9Qqa5o?fs=1" height="241" width="302" align="right"    **Sources:** //[]// []       [] [] []