HOV Alvin
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…
Read MoreOceanus Magazine: Who is Alvin and what are Sea Trials?
HOV Alvin is at sea for engineering tests to dive 6,500 meters deep, able to reach 99% of the ocean floor. If you haven’t been following the process, we’ll catch you up here.
Read MoreFrom one sub to another
When Alvin submerged for its second open water dive of sea trials on Thursday, July 7, it was operated by Senior Pilot Bruce Strickrott and carried two crew members who have a lot of experience with submersibles of other shapes and sizes. Randy Holt, Alvin’s new Expedition Leader, has piloted shallow-diving acrylic sphere and steel…
Read MoreInto 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,…
Read MorePermission to dive!
On Wednesday, June 29, 2022, human occupied vehicle Alvin submerged for the first time since returning to port for repairs in the fall. This was a tethered wet test, an opportunity to make sure the sub is ready for diving at sea. “We go through all the systems and make sure they are working,” said…
Read MoreWelcome aboard, Alvin!
Human Occupied Vehicle Alvin is getting ready to set sail on R/V Atlantis in July to resume work to certify the sub’s new maximum dive rating of 6,500 meters (4 miles). Watch the livestream of the vehicle loading here. We’ll keep you updated as the trip unfolds with regular blog posts and pictures.
Read MoreASLO Ocean Sciences plenary video featuring Peter Girguis
Hear from Harvard University Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology—and frequent NDSF Vehicle User—on what draws him to study the creatures of the deep sea. See if you can spot all three vehicles—Alvin,Jason, and Sentry. Watch here.
Read MoreUnderway: Alvin syntactic foam repair
When Human Occupied Vehicle Alvin’s sea trials came to an unexpected halt last November, engineers on Atlantis and at WHOI wasted no time in setting stage for the sub’s eventual return to the operation.
Read MoreWe interrupt this blog
It may seem uninteresting, but this is what most of the surface of the planet looks like. (Photo by Ken Kostel, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Even after nearly 30 years, the view out the sub’s porthole never gets old for chief Alvin pilot Bruce Strickrott. (Photo by Ken Kostel, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) A moment…
Read MoreHOV Alvin temporarily halts engineering test dives
After completing its 5,075th dive to a record 5338 meters (17,513 feet), post-dive visual inspection of Alvin revealed unexpected damage to several attachment points of the specialized syntactic foam used to provide buoyancy to the 43,000-pound human-occupied research submersible. As a result, further test dives have been postponed so that the sub can be thoroughly…
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