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Segal’s law of navigation

WHOI software engineer Stefano Suman inside Alvin with the sub’s navigation screen above him. (Photo by Ken Kostel, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Segal’s Law states (albeit ironically) that someone with one watch will always know what time it is, but someone with two watches is never sure. There’s a deeper truth to that adage that…

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Troubleshooting Alvin

Rick Sanger preps Alvin for Dive 5081. (Photo by Alvin Team, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Dive 5085 came up after achieving what was then a record depth for Alvin of 5782 meters. The sub crew decided to come up when they did because they had dived deep enough to put the sub within striking distance…

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We did it!

Yesterday’s Alvin dive landed on the seafloor around 5670 meters and, after the crew inside completed their checks, picked up and drove north down the sloping seafloor of the Puerto Rico Trench until they eventually settled at 6453 meters-a little over four miles deep. The NAVSEA-mandated depth to achieve certification is below 6200 meters, but…

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Engineering observations

Riding in an observer seat for the last three consecutive Alvin dives were engineers of different kinds: an Alvin mechanical engineer, an Alvin engineering technician, and a WHOI software engineer who is on board for sea trials. Here are their dive stories. Alvin engineers Nick Ellis and Kaitlyn Beardshear before dive 5082. Hannah Piecuch ©Woods…

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Sea trials shake-out

There is no pressure test facility in the world that can fit Alvin. So we have to dive. (Photo by Hannah Piecuch, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) As Alvin goes deeper, things that were invisible on land and on the ship emerge under the pressure of the deep sea. Dives 5082 and 5083 and 5084 are…

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Reverse Himalayas

On Tuesday, after four days of transiting south, the Atlantis arrived above the Puerto Rico Trench, which is 8,600 meters deep, and the place where deepest dives of this expedition will take place. Alvin dove in the trench on Wednesday, July 13, with a goal of reaching 3,500 meters. Bruce Strickrott was pilot, Rick Sanger…

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What is it like being an Alvin swimmer?

The Alvin swimmers ride the sub into the water, unhook the main and tail lines to get it free of the ship, snorkel around the vehicle to complete final checks, board the waiting small boat, and watch it disappear into the depths. The swimmers are a highly visible part of launch and recovery, the last…

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Into the deep sea at last

Blue skies and blue seas. Alvin mechanical engineer Fran Elder as swimmer during recovery on Dive 5080. (Photo by Hannah Piecuch ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) The last dive of the week took Alvin off the continental shelf, off the slope, and into the truly deep sea. With a 2,500-meter goal, Dive 5080 on July 8…

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Into open water

Swimmers (and Alvin engineers) Fran Elder and John Dymek assisting with retrieval of Alvin after its first open water dive of the year. Photo by Hannah Piecuch, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The human-occupied vehicle Alvin resumed sea trials on Wednesday, July 6, with a dive in Hydrographer Canyon, a deep incision in the continental shelf,…

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