Richard Branson Oceanic Sub plans to journey to the bottom of the ocean.

Branson plans to journey to the bottom of the ocean.

www.bbc.co.uk...

Sir Richard Branson is already selling tickets to fly people to the edge of space and now he wants to voyage to the bottom of the deepest oceans. His latest idea, called Virgin Oceanic, is a scientific endeavour rather than a tourist venture. One of its intended destinations is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean which, at 36,000ft deep, is further down than Mount Everest is high. The craft has been specially constructed to withstand the intense pressure. It has been built from titanium and carbon fibre with a transparent viewing capsule made from a single piece of quartz as glass would simply shatter.

i think its great we have people like branson in the world..using his money for real people projects,and being very open about it aswell...
i've always been fascinated about the deep oceans floor,and what other unfound species are in the deep.

maybe this will show us all evidence of ancient cities or stuctures who knows.

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www.virginoceanic.com...

The Virgin Oceanic submarine represents a transformational technological advance in submarine economics and performance. The submarine provides the currently unequalled capability to take humans to any depth in the oceans and to truly explore. It utilises the latest in composite technology and a completely unique flying wing to literally fly within the Ocean environment; creatures living here such as dolphins, whales and rays have shown us this winged approach is the best and most elegant way to range the seas. The submarine is many times less expensive to manufacture and operate than any of its less capable counterparts and is in harmony with its environment. The submarine was originally commissioned by Sir Richard’s close friend and fellow adventurer Steve Fossett who had intended to complete the first solo dive to the depths of the Mariana Trench. Sir Richard intends to finish what his friend started and then go on to help explore and unlock the wonders of the Oceans still unknown to humankind or science. The vehicle is a unique design made from 8,000 pounds of carbon fibre and titanium. The pressure at the bottom of the deepest trench is over 1,000 atmospheres – the quartz dome alone is under 13 million pounds of pressure, the weight of three space shuttles. Designed by Graham Hawkes, it is the only piloted craft in existence that has ‘full ocean depth’ capability. The one person sub has an operating depth of 37,000ft (7 miles) and is capable of operating for 24hrs unaided. Once fully descended, the submarine’s hydroplanes (the equivalent of wings for submarines) and thrusters will allow it to ‘fly’ up to 10km over the ocean floor whilst collecting video and data, something submersibles could only dream of. At these depths, each individual part of the sub must be able to withstand enormous pressures, 1500 times that of an aeroplane, and protect its pilot from the extreme conditions just inches away. As Sir Richard and Chris each pilot the sub to the bottom of our planet, they will be aware that should anything go wrong, there is no rescue team that can reach them; whilst backed up by a mission crew, once at depth, the pilot and craft are alone. Full pressure testing will be conducted over the next three months. The craft will cruise at a max of 3 knots and can dive 350ft per minute. At that speed, a dive to the bottom of the Marianna trench and back is estimated to take about five hours.

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wow! I would love to go down to 37,000 and see the bottom of the sea.
5 hours is quick?
now he needs to build a hotel.
I bet a Lot would love to stay in a hotel 37,00 deeo.
the sub is 8 tons? that is a lot?
is that to keep it down?

reply to post by snapperski


great thread

i think its great we have people like branson in the world..using his money for real people projects,and being very open about it aswell...

I agree, imo Branson is a living legend.

11,000m who knows what would be lurking at that depth. what an adventure.

Amazing.
There is still so much about our own planet that we don't know.
Nice to see Branson is keeping his friends dream alive.

We might as well explore the ocean unknowns, while we wait on the space community to discover flying saucer propulsion. I like that his submarine is environmentally friendly. Hopefully, he could later build a similar deep-sea sub for a crew of about 5 members.

That man is doing some amazing things with his money.

First space and now the truly unknown, the great deep.
What's next? A vehicle that can bore into the earth for "Core rides"?

I'm all for that!

S + F this was on the news tonight, Could be a experimental version for an ARK to be built on ocean floor incase of pending disaster.

Hope that thing is radiation-proof.

Just sayin'.

As stated by Dr. Edith Widder it's quite exciting to finally discover the wonders of the deep,i just hope they keep there findings totally open to the public,because if branson can do this privately then the navies of the world have been doing this for a while.

Well before reaching the bottom, the sub will encounter shooting stars of icy blue light. What marine biologist, Dr. Edith Widder (Ocean Research & Conservation Association), describes as “a silent fireworks display”. Dr. Widder is one of the world’s leading authorities on bioluminescence – light that is generated by living creatures. Beyond recording the hypnotic beauty of this phenomenon, she wants to know who is making all that light and why they spend precious energy doing it. How can bioluminescence be used as a tool to determine the distribution of animals in the ocean? And critically, she believes it can be used to monitor the health of marine ecosystems.

And as stated here,maybe where get a answer to the expanding earth theory at last.

Studying the area’s mud volcanoes can also help give us insight into the possibility of using a subduction zone for carbon sequestration. In low-temperature environments the serpentinization of mantle rocks could yield as much CO2 uptake as ~ 1 billion tons/km3 of mantle rock per year. In essence, these dives to the bottom of our world are an unprecedented scientific opportunity—allowing us to better understand everything from how the continents formed to how to protect our home planet and the life forms on it far into the future.

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For the first time, the deepest trenches in each of the five oceans will be available for surveying, mapping and sampling from an occupied submersible. No current human-occupied submersibles can dive deeper than 6,500 meters (21,325 feet), so most of the oceans’ trenches have only been explored with robotic vehicles – and some not at all, as availability of these systems is limited. For scientists who study the deepest part of the ocean and the animals that live there, the human presence will provide unprecedented access. Even in the famous Mariana Trench, the deepest in the world, man has only touched down upon its depths once. The single dive by the bathyscaphe Trieste in 1960 with Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard was groundbreaking for its day, but even that great feat allowed access only to a column of water straight down and straight back up. Scientists are excited by the opportunity to have a free-flying submersible that can traverse the bottom of the trench and collect data from a variety of points along the bottom. It’s as if Lewis and Clark had a Cessna to make the first survey of America’s West. Some of the trenches that Virgin Oceanic will explore have never been mapped in detail. Currently, ocean maps are very low resolution (think only 2 zooms on a Google map). Many are created solely based on data gathered from satellites or ship-based systems.

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THE DIVES.
Over the course of 2011 and 2012, Virgin Oceanic’s one-person sub will journey to the deepest part of each of Earth’s five oceans. The first dive will be to the deepest place on the planet: the bottom of the Mariana Trench – 11 kilometers (7 mi) straight down. This will be the first time since 1960 that human eyes have set sight here – when the bathyscaphe, Trieste (which moved straight up & down like a hot air balloon) briefly touched down carrying co-pilots Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard. This time, a sub that flies more like an airplane will allow the solo pilot, Chris Welsh, not only to reach the deepest point on Earth, but then to “fly” along the bottom of the Trench an additional 10 kilometers (nearly 6 mi).

The second dive – to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench – will be piloted by Sir Richard Branson. This trench is the deepest spot in the Atlantic Ocean at over 8 kilometers (more than 5 mi). This location is also near to Branson’s home on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.

Subsequent dives will carry a human pilot to the bottom of the Arctic, Southern and Indian oceans. Less than 3% of the seafloor has been explored, and none of the deepest points of the planet have ever been explored beyond a brief visit to one. The opportunities to see and learn from these dives are monumental.
Key dates and timings

Virgin Oceanic’s first dive will be to the Marianna Trench later in 2011, and a further four dives are scheduled over the next 24 months, subject to receipt of all required regulatory approvals.

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U.S. Navy Bathyscaphe Trieste (1958-1963) A late 1950s artwork, depicting Trieste operating on the deep ocean floor. U.S. NHHC Photograph.


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The sub got a dunking in the San Francisco Bay in February of this year. Virgin Oceanic chief pilot Chris Welsh was on hand to support the test along with sub designer Graham Hawkes and other engineers from Hawkes Ocean Technologies.

This style of submarine keeps popping up every few years. But I never hear anything else beyond the ‘introduction’ of a new type.

3kts seem awfully slow for the shape. I can walk that fast. I would expect 10 to 15 at least.

reply to post by samkent


yes i agree,they do seem to pop up every few years...and you hear nothing more of them..but the good thing about branson,is he happy to be totally public about it,and never gives up till his completed his goal..

and yeah it is kinda of slow...whether there is a reason for it being so slow i don't know may well be with the dense pressure that deep under water..but hey whats the rush...take your time,and view the sights so to speak.

i can't wait to see what they find that deep under the sea.

I think this is awesome. It's great that someone with that much money is actually using it in a true sense of philanthropy. That being not only is he donating his money to charity, but he is also using it to help explore the reaches of the earth that few would be able to visit or even be able to do. It also helps bring costs down of future projects like this because the initial R&D costs are already taken care of.

The sub is probably so slow because of the life support systems and the protection that it has to be able to keep a person alive and keep it structurally intact at the same time. Also we really don't know what is down there, there are fish in the sea that could take a bite out of that thing and it would end up another ship wreck. I know it sounds funny, but I don't think the pilot of that sub would find it very funny to be zooming around and disturb something that could swallow that sub whole.

I think this is great that he is doing this. So far this man has been one of the leading contributors to private space flight and is now leading the way for private oceanic exploration. There are people with billion of dollars that haven't done half the stuff this guy has done.

To the members of Virgin Oceanic, godspeed and thank you for contributing to the progress of humanity and being a beacon of light and inspiration to everyone around the world.

can you say.. crushed? i wouldnt want to be the fool who takes the first test ride to depth.. when it gets about 15,000 feet id bet someone says abort abort...! Sub round.. sub not stylish... engineer fail!

Originally posted by dave43035
can you say.. crushed? i wouldnt want to be the fool who takes the first test ride to depth.. when it gets about 15,000 feet id bet someone says abort abort...! Sub round.. sub not stylish... engineer fail!

I agree, subs are round for a very, very good reason!