{"id":352,"date":"2011-05-13T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-14T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.argee.net\/wordpress\/?p=352"},"modified":"2012-06-01T16:40:33","modified_gmt":"2012-06-01T23:40:33","slug":"down-periscope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352","title":{"rendered":"Down Periscope&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"mr_social_sharing_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 --><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 51px; height: 21px; overflow: hidden;\"><div class=\"fb-like\" data-href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352\" data-send=\"false\" data-width=\"51\" data-show-faces=\"false\"><\/div><\/span><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><fb:share-button type=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352\"><\/fb:share-button><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"none\" data-url=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352\" data-text=\"Down Periscope\u2026\"><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" data-href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_digg\" href=\"http:\/\/digg.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthrawnrickle.com%2F%3Fp%3D352&amp;title=Down+Periscope%E2%80%A6\" class=\"mr_social_sharing_popup_link\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/buttons\/digg.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Digg This\" title=\"Digg This\"\/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_reddit\" href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthrawnrickle.com%2F%3Fp%3D352\" class=\"mr_social_sharing_popup_link\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/buttons\/reddit.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Submit to reddit\" title=\"Submit to reddit\"\/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"linksalpha_button linksalpha_link\" href=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/social\/mobile\" data-url=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352\" data-text=\"Down Periscope\u2026\" data-desc=\"Deep Flight Challenger, Virgin Oceanic's\u00a0\"Full Ocean Depth\" submarine On Jan. 23, 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard made their historic dive to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, 36,201 ft down. They made their eight-hour round trip in the Bathyscaphe\u00a0Trieste. Since then technology has\" data-image=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/virgin_oceanic.jpg?a=43\" data-button=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/images\/social_share_button.png\" alt=\"Share\" class=\"linksalpha_image\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/scripts\/loader_iconbox.js?v=2.4\"><\/script><\/span><\/div><div style=\"\" align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/virgin_oceanic.jpg?a=43\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/virgin_oceanic.jpg?a=43\" style=\"border-color: initial; width: 500px; height: 334px; vertical-align: middle; border-color: initial;        border-width: 0px;border-style: solid;\"><\/a><br \/>\n<i>Deep Flight Challenger<\/i>, Virgin Oceanic&#8217;s&nbsp;&#8220;Full Ocean Depth&#8221; submarine<\/div>\n<div style=\"\" align=\"center\">\n<\/div>\n<div>On Jan. 23, 1960, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Don_Walsh\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Don Walsh<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jacques_Piccard\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Jacques Piccard<\/a> made their historic dive to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, 36,201 ft down. They made their eight-hour round trip in the <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bathyscaphetrieste.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Bathyscaphe&nbsp;Trieste<\/a>. <\/i>Since then technology has changed dramatically.<\/div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<div>On Apr. 6, 2011, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_Branson\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Richard Branson<\/a>, the billionaire founder of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Virgin_Galactic\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Virgin Galactic<\/a>, announced his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.virginoceanic.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Virgin Oceanic Project.<\/a> Later this year, Branson and California businessman and entrepreneur&nbsp;<i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial;\"><font class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: normal; \"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.virginoceanic.com\/team\/operations-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \">Chris Welsh<\/a><\/font>&nbsp;<\/i><font style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \">each<\/font><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial;\">&nbsp;<\/i>plan to dive the Challenger Deep in&nbsp;<i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \">Deep Flight Challenger,<\/i>&nbsp;bringing the grand total of living visitors to the bottom of the ocean to three. Thereafter, Branson intends to visit the deep spots of all the other oceans: <a href=\"http:\/\/oceanexplorer.noaa.gov\/explorations\/03trench\/welcome.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Puerto Rico Trench<\/a> at 28,232 feet in the Atlantic, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Diamantina_Deep\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Diamantina Deep<\/a> at 26,401 feet in the Indian Ocean, <a href=\"http:\/\/na.oceana.org\/en\/explore\/places\/south-sandwich-trench\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">South Sandwich Trench<\/a> at 23,737 feet in the Southern Ocean, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.springerlink.com\/content\/e27855w420412527\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Molloy Deep<\/a> at 18,399 feet in the Arctic Ocean.<\/div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"\" align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/virgin_oceanic_map_5_dives_5_oceans.jpg?a=80\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/virgin_oceanic_map_5_dives_5_oceans.jpg?a=80\" style=\"border-color: initial; width: 500px; height: 377px; vertical-align: middle; border-color: initial;        border-width: 0px;border-style: solid;\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"\" align=\"center\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"\" align=\"left\"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial;\">Deep Flight Challenger<\/i><font style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \">, designed and built by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.deepflight.com\/team\/graham.htm\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Graham Hawkes<\/a>,<\/font><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial;\">&nbsp;<\/i><font style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \">is a completely new kind of submersible. It weighs only 8,000 lbs, compared to as much as 60,000 for other submersibles. Instead of using&nbsp;Archimedes Principle for depth control as do virtually all other submersibles (and even submarines), this sub class retains positive buoyancy, and uses the principles of flight to dive. The Bernoulli wing surfaces are the reverse of an aircraft, because, instead of providing lift to keep the craft in the air, these wings produce a downward force to keep the sub from surfacing. Actually,&nbsp;<\/font><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial;\">Deep Flight Challenger<\/i><font style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \">&nbsp;is a&nbsp;hybrid&nbsp;vehicle,<\/font>&nbsp;in that it uses negative buoyancy to get to the bottom, but then releases weight so that it can cruise around using its underwater flight capability.<\/div>\n<div style=\"\" align=\"left\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"\" align=\"left\"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial;\">Deep Flight Challenger<\/i><font style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \">&nbsp;is constructed from high-tech materials with a passenger pressure cylinder made of a special carbon fiber with a titanium cap at the nether end and a quartz dome at the front. The lexan fairing in the above photo is for hydrodynamic smoothing. The sub has a top speed of 3 kts, and a duration of several hours with a range of about 10 km. Like other submersibles, it requires a &nbsp;mother-ship, but because of its light weight, it can deploy on nearly any vessel with sufficient crane capacity.<\/font><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"left\"><font style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><br \/>\n<\/font><\/div>\n<div style=\"\" align=\"center\"><object width=\"500\" height=\"304.69\"><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/_Sk_XEHfqwk&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;version=3\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" width=\"500\" height=\"304.69\"><\/object><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"left\"><font style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><br \/>\n<\/font><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><font style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Steve_Fossett\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Steve Fossett<\/a>, the well-known adventurer perished in a plane crash in 2007, originally promoted this plan. When he died, Bronson took up the challenge. Branson and his friend, Chief Pilot&nbsp;Chris Welsh, supplied the funding, and Hawkes supplied the engineering.<\/font><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><font style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><br \/><\/font><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><font style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/RichardBransonandChrisWelchposeonthesolopilotedsubmarine_ImagecourtesyReuters.jpg?a=16\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/RichardBransonandChrisWelchposeonthesolopilotedsubmarine_ImagecourtesyReuters.jpg?a=16\" style=\"border-color: initial; width: 500px; height: 375px; vertical-align: middle; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-color: initial; \"><\/a><br \/><\/font><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: center;\">California businessman and entrepreneur Chris Welsh<br \/>and Richard&nbsp;Branson with&nbsp;<i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \">Deep Flight Challenger<\/i><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><br \/><\/i><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/virgin_oceanic1.jpg?a=43\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/virgin_oceanic1.jpg?a=43\" style=\"border-color: initial; width: 500px; height: 334px; vertical-align: middle; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-color: initial; \"><\/a><br \/><font class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: normal; \"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \">Deep Flight Challenger<\/i>, Virgin Oceanic&#8217;s&nbsp;&#8220;Full Ocean Depth&#8221; submarine<\/font><\/i><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><font class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: normal; \"><br \/><\/font><\/i><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><font class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: normal; \"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/richard_branson_virgin_oceanic.jpg?a=43\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/richard_branson_virgin_oceanic.jpg?a=43\" style=\"border-color: initial; width: 500px; height: 281px; vertical-align: middle; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-color: initial; \"><\/a><br \/><\/font><font class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: normal; \"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \">Deep Flight Challenger<\/i>&nbsp;looks and flies like a plane<\/font><\/i><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><font class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: normal; \"><br \/><\/font><\/i><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/subspecs_virgin_oceanic.png?a=79\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/subspecs_virgin_oceanic.png?a=79\" style=\"border-color: initial; width: 500px; height: 1787px; vertical-align: middle; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-color: initial; \"><\/a><br \/><\/i><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><br \/><\/i><\/div>\n<div align=\"left\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><i style=\"outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; \"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.virginoceanic.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.quickblogcast.com\/52795-47286\/virgin_oceanic2.jpg?a=59\" style=\"border: 0px solid;\"><\/a><br \/><\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"mr_social_sharing_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 --><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 51px; height: 21px; overflow: hidden;\"><div class=\"fb-like\" data-href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352\" data-send=\"false\" data-width=\"51\" data-show-faces=\"false\"><\/div><\/span><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><fb:share-button type=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352\"><\/fb:share-button><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"none\" data-url=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352\" data-text=\"Down Periscope\u2026\"><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" data-href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_digg\" href=\"http:\/\/digg.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthrawnrickle.com%2F%3Fp%3D352&amp;title=Down+Periscope%E2%80%A6\" class=\"mr_social_sharing_popup_link\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/buttons\/digg.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Digg This\" title=\"Digg This\"\/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_reddit\" href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthrawnrickle.com%2F%3Fp%3D352\" class=\"mr_social_sharing_popup_link\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/buttons\/reddit.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Submit to reddit\" title=\"Submit to reddit\"\/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"linksalpha_button linksalpha_link\" href=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/social\/mobile\" data-url=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=352\" data-text=\"Down Periscope\u2026\" data-desc=\"Deep Flight Challenger, Virgin Oceanic's\u00a0\"Full Ocean Depth\" submarine On Jan. 23, 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard made their historic dive to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, 36,201 ft down. They made their eight-hour round trip in the Bathyscaphe\u00a0Trieste. Since then technology has\" data-image=\"\" data-button=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/images\/social_share_button.png\" alt=\"Share\" class=\"linksalpha_image\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/scripts\/loader_iconbox.js?v=2.4\"><\/script><\/span><\/div><p>Jacques Piccard and my friend Don Walsh were the only people to plumb the deepest spot in the World&#8217;s oceans &#8212; the Challenger Deep. Then, in 2008, Piccard died, leaving only Don. But that is about to change&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,21,8,17,4],"tags":[511,509,513,515,524,523,518,505,526,527,521,522,507,520,508,517,512,519,525,510,405,514,506,516],"class_list":["post-352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-diving","category-engineering","category-environment","category-science","tag-bathyscaphe","tag-bathyscaphe-trieste","tag-branson","tag-chris-welsh","tag-deep-flight","tag-deep-flight-challenger","tag-diamantina-deep","tag-don-walsh","tag-fossett","tag-full-ocean-depth","tag-graham-hawkes","tag-hawkes","tag-jacques-piccard","tag-molloy-deep","tag-piccard","tag-puerto-rico-trench","tag-richard-branson","tag-south-sandwich-trench","tag-steve-fossett","tag-trieste","tag-virgin-galactic","tag-virgin-oceanic","tag-walsh","tag-welsh"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=352"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":483,"href":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352\/revisions\/483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}