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Subscribe to RSSResearchers have returned to the site of the Titanic shipwreck, after a break that was forced by Hurricane Danielle. Now they're turning their attention from the well-known hulk's bow to its stern, to take a look at areas of the debris field that haven't been studied since the Titanic was rediscovered in 1986.
The research vessel Jean Charcot began its high-definition, 3-D survey of the underwater site last month, with the aim of documenting the historic wreck in unprecedented detail before it disintegrates. NBC News' Kerry Sanders was in on the adventure when the first pictures were beamed up from robot vehicles operating two and a half miles beneath the surface of the North Atlantic. (In comparison, the remotely operated vehicles involved in the response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were a mere mile down.)
Unfortunately, Hurricane Danielle's storm track came a little too close for comfort, and the Jean Charcot had to head back to port in Newfoundland at the end of August. This week, the team sailed back to resume their survey.
Expedition Titanic's two autonomous underwater vehicles (nicknamed Ginger and Mary Ann, after the "Gilligan's Island" women) and its camera-laden remotely operated vehicle have been back in the water already, although the seas were too choppy for remote operations today. Among the shots that have shown up on the expedition's Facebook page are eerie pictures of the officers' cabins and the first-class promenade deck.
In a video clip, research specialist Bill Lange (who was involved in the 1986 rediscovery expedition) discusses the shift in operations from the ship's bow to its stern. The plan laid out by Lange calls for spiraling out from the stern section and checking a list of high-interest targets. "We hit this one, we're covering new ground, because no one's looked at this since '86," Lange said.
It's been 98 years since the Titanic ran into an iceberg and sank, causing more than 1,500 deaths. The ship is slowly disintegrating into scrap, and yet it retains a powerful grip on the popular imagination — in part because the wreck was lost for so long, and in part because the sinking of an unsinkable ocean liner serves as "the world's largest symbol of man's mortality and vulnerability," as The Onion put it in a famous parody.
The difficulties that Expedition Titanic has had to weather so far simply reinforce the metaphor's message: Never assume you can beat Mother Nature.
I've been in touch with a couple of folks on the expedition and will keep you posted as it proceeds. But communication is spotty. "We are dealing with a very low bandwidth satellite dish out here," team member Bob Sitrick told me via e-mail. You can also check these resources for updates:
- Expedition Titanic on the Web (check "The Feed")
- Waitt Institute's Expedition Blog
- RMS Titanic Inc. on Facebook
- @RMS_Titanic_Inc on Twitter
- Expedition Titanic channel on YouTube
- WHOI returns to the Titanic ... and tweets
Join the Cosmic Log corps by signing up as my Facebook friend or hooking up on Twitter. And if you really want to be friendly, ask me about "The Case for Pluto."
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Then what the heck was that expedition on TV just a few years ago that explored the idea that the ship broke in half at an expansion joint and sank in two pieces. I think it was on the Discovery Channel.
They found a whole section of the bottom that has seperated from the main wreckage and the whole stern also. They used a couple of Russian submersibles and took video and stills. Somebody here is not doing much research before they claim that nobody has been looking at the stern and the debris field that leads there since the original expedition.
RMcD
RMcD. It was looked at a couple yrs ago by the guys on the History Channels' "Underwater Detectives". I don't recall their names, but they also wrote a very fascinating book on their research and Titanic and Britanic (Titanic sister ship) dives along with some first hand accounts from the designers/builders of both ships. Another book you may want to read is "The Wreck of the Titan or Futility" by Morgan Robertson. It was originally published in 1898. It makes me wonder if the Titanic's conception was an orignal idea by the designer.
the important thing is that it will be possible to UNriddle now with hard proof why the unsinkable ship sunk!i hope they can get images of the whole side damaged by the iceberg to see how many hatches were damaged.
I grew up on the small island of Anguilla and attended school in St. Kitts-Nevis, traveling between both islands on a small schooner in the Caribbean Sea. Upon learning of the sinking of the Titanic, I became fascinated about this story and later watched all three movies with tremendous curiosity. When this ship was rediscovered with the use of submersibles and 3-D technology, the fascination and curiosity continues to this day. As a Star Trek fan -having watched every episode repeatedly so much that I am sometimes confused about whether there are parallel universes, etc. - I am truly intriqued by the Titanic, and remain anxious and excited about learning more about this ship and future rediscoveries of relics lying on the bottom floor of the oceans of this fragile planet earth.
It is very sad that 1,500 lives were lost because of an insufficient number of lifeboats, operating in cold water. It is interesting to note that the small schooner was no longer than 20 feet and the distance between islands was a mere 60 miles. But there are islands along the treacherous channel; I am indeed lucky to be alive and to learn about larger ships, star ships, worm holes and black holes, dark matter and dark energy.
Tell us Alan, is the earth a space ship? And is there life after death? What is happiness and where can we find it in the universe? Is there such a thing as pure energy?
Titanic has always fascinated me. A friend's father was scheduled to sail to America from Russia on that fateful cruise, but at the last minute, changed his plans to save some money, and sailed on another ship a week later. He didn't find out that his entire family, who were on the Titanic, had died in the sinking until he reached New York about ten days later. Makes you believe in fate and karma a little more, doesn't it?
But what really concerns me is that out of all those life boats with plenty of room on them, only one returned to the site to try to save survivors. Looks like apathy and "what's good for me" has been around for a long time.
The pictures are awe-inspiring. It's too bad the ship will be gone before long.
It has become a love story.
While Titanic and her stories continue to intrigue all of us, I do think it is time to move on. We benefit nothing by disturbing the final resting place of so many.
I am so SICK AND TIRED of seeing things about the Titanic. Give it a rest!
The link to The Onion article isn't working.
I don't understand ?Haven't they done enough exploring of the Titanic .It's shame so many people died that night.I think the exploring of the Titanic needs to stop and let the people who died there rest in peace.I know there bodies are no longer there ,but there shoes are still there were they died.There were allot of movies made about the ship.And documentaries about the ship.Now let the ship rest in peace too.They need to stop taking pieces of it.Yes it's no longer going to be there .So maybe there could be a statue of the Titanic put in it's place in the ocean .My mom told me a relative of hers was to come back to America on the Titanic but some how her tickets got changed So she was lucky. .So please let the peoples final resting place alone.Stop takeing the Titanic apart.leave it alone in peace.The last movie made by James Cameron about the Titanic made me cry .Because he made it look so real.No wonder the movie got 11 Oscar's .
As a professional steel fabricator & certified weldor for 35+ years, the theories behind the sinking of an "unsinkable" ship fascinate me. I've read various papers on it, ranging from poor metalurgy, to defective steel(!), weak rivits, general poor design, etc. I think that it comes down to the fact that the Titanic itself was too large for the technoligy of the day. The ship was basicly a mid- to late 20th century size, built using 19th century theories.
The deficiencies in the metalurgy are/were probably the biggest problem, coupled with the riviting technique used at the time. Or to look at it another way, man's EGO exceded his abilities. His ideas were in excess of his knowledge. The Titanic & the Britanic WERE cutting edge at the time, but running into an iceberg wasn't figured into the equasion. ALSO, add in the fact that the Capt'n had HIS ego on ther line, he knew he had a ship under him that could set a new trans-atlantic speed record & was determined to do so on the initial voyage of the ship. Warned of icebergs in his path, he didn't divert to a more southern route OR reduce speed, either of which COULD have saved the ship, at a cost of additional time involved for the crossing. Man's VANITY caused the sinking & loss of 1500+ lives !
Can we learn much, if anything from more wreck site discoveries ? Probably not, but shipwrecks have fasinated mankind since the first one, so we keep looking. It is, however a good close-up of our own history & failings.
I think, hostile albert, is it was not so much a problem with the metallurgy of the day, or the construction techniques, but a design flaw that has been raised many times- the water-tight bulkheads did not extend higher than E-deck. If they had, the water would have been contained to the first four compartments, and she wouldn't have sank. There has also been theory of her not sinking had the collision with the berg been head on instead of a side-swipe, but there would have been massive injuries.
Proof of thier construction is in the Titanic's sister ship, Olympic's service record. She served until 1937, having served as both commercial liner, and military transport during WWI. In her service, she purposefully rammed U-103 and sank it, and later accidentally, rammed and sank the Nantucket Lightship. Both were Bow-on collisions I grant that, but ships weren't made to collide with stuff, and cars STILL aren't built to be wrecked.
In the end, It was caused by the same thing we fight today- corporate bean counters micro-managing the design engineers in order to save money. In this case, the water tight bulkheads, which were expensive, and the second row of life boats were left off so the First class passengers wouldn't feel crowded.
you religious retards just kill me. there is only one god and her name is mother earth, and if you are too dumb to notice, she is really pissed and about to kick all of our asses. hope you're not ready.
I wonder who created Mother Earth, though...how did the first molecule come to be...I go back and forth on if there was a Creator or not...
compared to the vastness of the universe and the complexities of its processes, 'god' is a vanity that human kind can ill afford.
The 3-D pictures are facinating. i wish there were more. No one said anything about how to see them in 3D; but I learned a long time ago with 3D picture cards and a hand held viewer (predates viewmaster pictures), that if you look at the two pictures cross-eyed, a third picture appears in the middle in 3D. It gets a little getting used to; but it is quite sucessful. and no, you won't get stuck that way! If you have any other suggestions, send them to gandolfwzrd@hotmail.com. :-)
The 3-D pictures are facinating. i wish there were more. No one said anything about how to see them in 3D; but I learned a long time ago with 3D picture cards and a hand held viewer (predates viewmaster pictures), that if you look at the two pictures cross-eyed, a third picture appears in the middle in 3D. It gets a little getting used to; but it is quite sucessful. and no, you won't get stuck that way! If you have any other suggestions, send them to gandolfwzrd@hotmail.com. :-)
"And the sea gave up those dead in it." Revelation 20:13
This is a very comforting word from God for those who have lost loved ones by drowning. The people who cried for help as they were drowning are never forgotten by our ever-merciful and loving God Jehovah. Those who have died in the sea (or body of water) will be brought back to life. Yes, all of those who have drowned including the 1500 people who perished with the Titanic.
Hmm...might have been more merciful and loving if he hadn't let them drown.
Thanks for inserting your myth into this science article.
Hi. My name is Mario. I appreciate very much your reply. You truly are right that it might have been more merciful and loving if he hadn't let them drown. I see that you are a man of justice. We all are. God's Word explains: And God went on to say: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness." (Genesis 1:26) Your expression of injustice is a godly quality. Remember though that Titanic sank due to human error. True, that God is all-powerful and he could have prevented all human suffering if he truly does exist. But his allowing of suffering does not mean he causes it. For example, you explained to your son at an early age that cigarette smoking is hazardous to health. When he got older, he decided to disregard your loving counsel. He started smoking. After many years, he developed lung cancer. Are you the one to blame for his cancer, Mr. Ron? Of course, not. Our heavenly Father has a reason suffering continues to this day. He allows suffering, but never causes it. He preserved his word the Bible to explain to us why and what is he going to do to undo suffering. You are a sensible man. You sure will understand God's reason why we suffer.
When it touches on scientific matters, the Bible is accurate. For instance, at a time there were wrong ideas about the shape of the earth, the Bible referred to it as a circle, or sphere. (Isaiah 40:22) The Bible accurately said that the earth is suspended on empty space or 'hangs on nothing.' (Job 26:7)Consider too, as an example, God's provision of earth’s water cycle, which makes life on earth possible. The Bible describes it in this poetic, yet accurate, way: “All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.”—Ecclesiastes 1:7, New International Version.
"After many years, he developed lung cancer. Are you the one to blame for his cancer, Mr. Ron?"
Sure, if I invented cancer. And if I had the capability of eradicating his cancer and did nothing.
Mr. Ron, the cancer resulted from disregarding your counsel. You did not create it. Adam and Eve disregarded a simple command and resulted to their suffering and to their offsprings. Our first parents chose death to come upon them and their future offspring. Imagine our first parents being place in a perfect home with the hope of living forever with their offspring. The Creator also dignified them and gave them freewill. Will they use their freedom of choice to submit to God's rightful authority? [The tree in the middle of the garden God used to exert his sovereignty.] They could have been created like robots, but God left Adam and Eve to decide for themselves. Here is the issue that affects us all: Can humans be succesful independent of God's guidance and rulership? God has to allow time to go by to answer that question. Look back in to history, please. Look at all the different forms of government that humans have tried. Start please from Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the Anglo-American alliance. Did any of these human rulership reverse suffering and death? God's allowance of human independence sums up to this: "That man has dominated man to his injury." (Ecclesiastes 8:9)
No, the cancer resulted from toxins in the smoke causing mutations in his DNA. You sure want to absolve this alledgedly all-powerful all-moral guy from any wrongdoing. It doesn't bother me, because I don't believe in him anyway. Go ahead and knock yourself out.
I apologize Mr. Ron. Have you ever felt this way? Not believing in the existence of an "all-powerful all-moral guy"?
I figured you are not going to reply back. I enjoyed the correspondence we had. I just want to leave you this thought: If one day Mr. Ron you want to test if God truly exist and if he personally cares for you, call his name. He is not far off. (Acts 17: 27) Do not be surprise how he answers your prayer. And it will not be a coincidence. Have a great day.
"Every one who calleth in the name of Jehovah is delivered." -- Joel 2: 32, Young's Literal Translation
Ideally I would love to see the camera focusing on the artifacts and not the eroding iron skeleton of the ship -plenty of it shown already from the first expedition. Remote cameras should explore inside of the wrekage-technology still unaccomplished -so it seems. Honestly, I do not wish to see such repeats as in this clip. Film shown here (2010) is extraordinarily ORDINARY!
I have always wondered since the ship is at such a deep depth and the crushing pressure to to great for divers then How the hell does fish and crabs and otehr sea life survive in those depths ? doesn't make sense
Alan,
The internal pressure of those critters is the same as the exterior pressure, since they have always lived at that depth they are safe, as opposed to a surface critter whose internal pressure is much loser. Bring up one of those deep sea animals and they explode on the way up due to the internal pressure!
What I have wondered is what happen to the bodies of those that could not escape form the sinking?
The bodies were crushed by the pressure, the flesh eaten by various critters mainly microbes, but other larger life as well, even the bones would succumb to being eaten by certain worms that live in such things as whale bones and the like as well as microbial action. Basically, they have returned to the Earth and supported life on their way!
the boat sunk... get over it
Search for what? I think it's a little too late to be searching for bodies after 98 years.
Probably for that big honkin' blue diamond Rose threw out. :)
Easier to preserve it in a museum then on the ocean floor.Anything that can be brought up should.Thats like saying lets leave king tut in his tomb.I cant aford to fly to egypt or go to the bottom of the atlantic ocean.But i did go see display for ship when it was in atlantic city NJ.And it was very cool.Many of the richer people on board loved the spot light.So i bet they would love to be remebered by the collection.