HOV Alvin
COVID-19 information for NDSF user community
Following guidance from UNOLS and our host site Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the National Deep Submergence Facility is monitoring the situation related to COVID-19 closely and taking appropriate actions to keep our team and users safe. We are in the process of bringing all vehicles back to their home port in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.…
Read MoreCape Cod Times: WHOI’s Alvin to reach new depths after $8M upgrade
Read an interview about the Alvin of the future with submersible pilot and manager of the Alvin Group Bruce Strickrott.
Read MoreWelcome home, Alvin!
Watch Alvin return to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the final phase of the overhaul that will allow it to reach 6500 meters depth. Building on work begun in 2011, this process is part of the sub’s regular maintenance cycle, in which Alvin returns to Woods Hole and the team disassembles it, inspects every part,…
Read MoreFirst Descent: Lauren Dykman Dives in Alvin
“In an instant, the abyss below resolves into a field of contorted basaltic lava flows. Black, shiny lava pillows extend to the reach of our floodlights, much like photos I’ve seen of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. We touch down and raise a cloud of sediment. Surrounding us, going about their daily lives, are the animals…
Read MoreVineyard Current: Andy Bowen on the past and future of deep sea exploration
Listen as NDSF Director Andy Bowen reflects on deep sea exploration and the challenges of building the robots of the future on an episode of The Vineyard Current, produced by MVYRadio. The interview aired to preview a talk Bowen will give at Falmouth Academy’s Community Forum on February 6 at 7pm. Bowen will share the…
Read MoreUnderway: Alvin and Sentry on the Hot2Cold Vents cruise at 9°50’N
Continuing work started earlier in 2019, the Sylvan Geomicrobiology Lab from Texas A&M returns to 9°50’N on the East Pacific Rise with Alvin and Sentry to study organisms that live in hydrothermal vent ecosystems and the surrounding seafloor terrain. Follow along on the cruise blog. Read more about the research project.
Read MoreUDaily: Seafloor carbon at the East Pacific Rise vent
A University of Delaware study lead by Emily Estes and using samples collected on an Alvin expedition finds direct links between old carbon, graphite, and seafloor hydrothermal vents.
Read MoreThe Conversation: explore deep-sea volcanoes with an aquanaut
Geologist Michael Perfit has taken about 40 dives in HOV Alvin. Read his account of a day at work underwater published in The Conversation.
Read MoreGizmodo: Alvin, deep sea vents, and the mystery of ancient carbon
Read Gizmodo’s reporting on a paper published this month in Nature Communications that used samples collected on a 2017 Alvin mission to the East Pacific Rise 9° 50′ N vent field in the Pacific Ocean. “What’s great about Alvin is that you can be down there with the vent, get direct samples, and see everything in…
Read MoreA career in submersible operations
Get to know Rick Chandler, submersible engineering and operations administrator for the Alvin Group.
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