SAD LOVE QUOTES: Forget the space race, China dips into the deep-sea dash by taking manned sub 5,000m below the surface

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Forget the space race, China dips into the deep-sea dash by taking manned sub 5,000m below the surface

Last updated at 10:37 AM on 27th July 2011

Having only recently conquered space, it seems China is now turning its attention to the seas.

As part of the country's deep sea exploration programme, the manned Jiaolong underwater craft this week reached a staggering 5,057 metres below sea level in an 'international area' of the Pacific Ocean.

It comes more than 50 years since the fabled Trieste dropped more than 10,000 metres to the bottom of Challenger Deep, the lowest point of the Pacific's Mariana Trench.

And the Chinese mission has also pipped film director James Cameron - who wants to film scenes for the sequel to blockbuster Avatar from 7,000 metres below surface - to the post in plumbing the murky depths of the world's waters.

Deep sea discovery: Submersible Jiaolong is brought out of the water after a successful completion of the dive

The Jiaolong's crew of Tang Jialing, Fu Wentao and Ye Cong, now hope next year to take their titanium-hulled 26ft-long craft even deeper to 7,000 metres.

If that dive is successful, it will mean the Jiaolong, named after a mythical Chinese sea dragon, will bypass the Japanese craft Shinkai to become the world's deepest exploration vessel.

Chinese State Oceanic Administration's deputy director Wang Fei said the feat, performed to start the search for valuable mineral resources on the ocean floor, was comparable to the country's space exploration programme.

Submerged: The Chinese submersible reached more than 5,000 below sea level

Plans: the Chinese plan to descend 7,000ft next year

Plans: Professor Auguste Piccard is helped by son Jacques off the Trieste after a test dive off the coast of Italy. The vessel would later plunge to deeper in the sea than ever before

In 2003 China became only the third nation to conduct manned space flight.

He said: 'It will pave the way for a record-breaking 7,000-meter test dive in 2012.

'The purpose of this diving test program is to find problems with the Jiaolong and improve it constantly.

'At a depth of 5,000 metres, the Jiaolong withstood great pressure amounting to 5,000 tonnes per square metre.'

Bespoke: James Cameron, director Avatar, is said to have commissioned a submarine out of high-tech, man-made composite materials and powered by electric motors, to descend to seven miles

PROFESSOR AUGUSTE PICCARD AND HIS SON JACQUES

Tribute: Avatar director James Cameron (left) wants to emulate Professor August Piccard and his son Jacques (right) in plumbing the depths of the ocean to film footage for the blockbuster's sequel

This week's six-hour dive to the south east of Hawaii means that the Jiaolong can now reach 70 per cent of the ocean floor.

If the 2012 mission is completed, it will then be able to scour 99.8 per cent of the sea bed.

Last year, the Jiaolong dived to more than 3,600 metres deep in the South China Sea, where it planted a small Chinese flag on the floor with a robotic arm.

It was seen as a provocative act because the disputed sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas, is claimed in whole or in part by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.

The only manned expedition to have gone deeper than this week's accomplishment was the dive of the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960.

DEEPEST EXPLORERS:

1. Shinkai (Japan) - 6,500m

2. Mir (Russia) - 6,000m

3. Nautile (France) - 6,000m

4. Jiaolong (China) - 5,000m

5. Alvin (U.S.) - 4,500m

* Figures rounded to nearest 500 metres

The Trieste was a 7ft-wide sphere with 5-inch thick steel walls, resembling an underwater hot-air balloon, that dropped to the bottom of Challenger Deep, the lowest point of the Pacific's Mariana trench.

But the vessel could not navigate along the bottom of the sea bed.

It took Jacques Piccard, the son of its inventor Professor Auguste, and Don Walsh, a US naval officer, to 10,916m below the surface, where one of its outer window panes cracked.

They reported back seeing vast sums of sole and shrimp swimming past.

China's triumph comes as an award-winning film director is also pledging to add his name to the exclusive club of those who have travelled to the bottom of the Ocean.

James Cameron, who won three Oscars for Avatar, is believed to have commissioned a bespoke submarine to plunge seven miles beneat the surface.

He will use the hi-tech, electric motor-powered craft to shoot 3D footage which will be incorporated into the smash movie's sequel, set in the teeming oceans of the film's fictional alien planet of Pandora.