OceanGate announced in this week for a manned expedition to the study the R.M.S Titanic. Fewer than 200 people have ever visited the Titanic since it sank on April 1912.
This new expedition is scheduled for May 2018. It will mark the first team has approached the wreck since 2005. The famous expedition occurred in 1995 when the director James Cameroon captured footage of the Titanic for his eventual blockbuster.
OceanGate CEO and co-founder said, to document the decay of the ship is possible now. They have enough technician and research partners, to create high-definition 3-D images of objects on underwater as per Techcrunch.
The Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory (AIVL) at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will be sending experts down on OceanGate's submersible during the seven-week long expedition. They will help OceanGate's team employ with optical laser scanning, sonar and photogrammetry techniques to create images of the wreck in multiple formats reported by IOE Business.
Now OceanGate has developed a new submarine called Cyclops 2, to make the deep sea journey in next spring. This submarine made by primarily of carbon fiber and titanium and it can carry five people at a time. Along with subject matter experts, each trip down will include a pilot and mission specialist in the vehicle. The price of an "SME" ticket is around $105,129.
The company has developed a hull made primarily of filament-lined carbon fiber to withstand 6,000 psi at depth.To monitor the integrity of the Cyclops 2, the company relies on acoustic sensors. Snaps, crackles and pops of a certain timbre indicate problems and would allow OceanGate enough time to abort their mission if needed.
There are many high-tech elements that go into a deep ocean expedition so don't need to worry about million pounds of water pressure, experts said. Titanic wreck is located 380 nautical miles from St. John's in Newfoundland. Now Ocean Gate has to commission a vessel from which to launch the Cyclops 2. They are still trying figure out what kind of aircraft works to bring passengers out to the ship and back to shore.
OceanGate will also have to monitor weather and currents very closely to avoid going off course. Finally, the company will be testing its Cyclops 2 this November,2017.
