Alvin

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March 3, 2011 | 3:00 PM | By

Ocean and space: the final frontiers

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The space shuttle Discovery made it's final launch on February 24, 2011.

As I listened to NPR’s tribute to the space shuttle Discovery last week, I found myself getting a little emotional. And why not? It’s the end of an era. The Challenger and Columbia tragedies are “where were you when … ?” moments for my generation.

Of course, it’s not the end of space exploration. Far from it. Unmanned explorers like Hubble and the Mars Rovers have far outperformed expectations (the Hubble telescope has been in space for more than twenty years!) and gathered a wealth of scientific information about our universe that human explorers could never hope to match.

The same can be said of that other vast and largely unexplored frontier – the ocean. Satellites circle the Earth, taking photographs used to estimate the abundance of life-sustaining phytoplankton and compiling a comprehensive record of sea surface temperatures. Hundreds of buoys and thousands of floats catalog basic water characteristics – temperature, salinity, acidity – that scientists can use to improve their understanding of anything from whale feeding behavior to climate change.

And yet, it’s estimated that 95% of the ocean remains unexplored, in that it’s never been seen by human eyes. For that matter, we know more about the surface of Mars than the bottom of the ocean.

Aquanauts and astronauts face equal, if opposite, challenges – zero gravity on one hand, crushing water pressure on the other, a lack of breathable air in both cases. And let’s not forget the cost. So the reliance on robotic data collectors makes sense. Still, there’s something irreplaceable about human exploration – the thrill, even vicariously, of setting food on the moon or seeing something as unimaginably new and alien as deep-sea hydrothermal vents for the first time.

So I’m sad to see the shuttles go. But, as the old saying goes: when one door closes, another one opens. Alvin – the leader of a small pack of manned submersibles used for research – is in the process of getting a major overhaul. The bigger and better Alvin will be able to dive 2000 meters deeper than before, putting a whopping 98% of the sea floor within reach of scientists.

So maybe, just maybe, space isn’t the final frontier. Maybe it’s the ocean.

FILED UNDER: Alvin
February 11, 2011 | 11:50 AM | By

Watch Alvin’s facelift live

Alvin is certainly a local celebrity, and might just be the most famous submarine of all time. It carried scientists to the first hydrothermal vents ever discovered and to the wreck of the Titanic. Most recently, it allowed scientists to explore the underwater impacts of the Gulf oil spill first-hand.

Since its launch in 1964, the vehicle has been repaired and upgraded many times. Now, Alvin is in the early stages of a major overhaul that includes a larger personnel area, two extra view ports, and upgraded lighting, flotation, and control systems. The new and improved Alvin will also be able to dive to 6,500 meters – 2,000 meters deeper than before. That means that scientists will be able to explore 98% of the sea floor in comfort and style (well, relatively speaking). But perhaps the coolest thing about Alvin’s facelift is the fact that you can watch it live. Just click on the image to view the webcam feed.

FILED UNDER: Alvin
December 6, 2010 | 2:42 PM | By

Rapid response science in living color

Image courtesy of Lophelia II 2010 Expedition, NOAA-OER/BOEMRE

A new expedition to the Gulf of Mexico will explore a coral-die off near the Deepwater Horizon well discovered just over a month ago. This close-up shows an impacted coral colony covered by brown slime which scientists say could be either oil or dying tissue. The attached brittle starfish is a bleached white color that is not normal.

Most research cruises require years of planning and grant-writing, then take place far out at sea with nobody but the dolphins and seagulls watching. Not so for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Dive and Discover Expedition 13 – an exploration of the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea life in the Gulf of Mexico. As Ken Kostel writes in the first daily update for the mission, this cruise is the epitome of rapid response science:

… this cruise is different. It was on no one’s schedule six months ago. Two months ago Alvin became available. Sentry was added to the cruise plan less than a month ago. Two weeks ago an ocean bottom time-lapse camera became available and the expedition’s chief scientist, Chuck Fisher from Pennsylvania State University, decided to bring it along before he knew if researchers would have the money for it. They found it. “We have to be flexible and take advantage of opportunities in what we do,” Fisher told me soon after he arrived on Atlantis. “But this is unheard of to have everything come together like this.”

That’s a big help to the scientists and crew on board Atlantis, but it also means that today everyone’s pressed for time.

Kostel explains that this unusual expedition is being made possible by a RAPID response grant from the National Science Foundation’s RAPID response grant system – a program specifically designed to enable researchers to respond quickly to unanticipated events such as earthquakes, underwater eruptions, and oil spills. But Kostel says the “rapid response” aspect of this cruise goes beyond the funding source.

… the information Chuck and the other scientists are using to select potential dive sites is still very new. In the beginning of November, a remarkably successful series of dives by the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason visited many of the sites Chuck had picked for this cruise.

On its last dive, however, Jason found a patch of dead and dying coral near the Deepwater Horizon wellhead that spilled so much oil into the Gulf. That, said Chuck, pointed to the need for more exploration around the well, so he scrapped his plans and began looking for sites that would give him a better picture of how the oil might be affecting life in the deep ocean. Photographs from a deep-sea camera only came back last week to help the team create a short list of places they’d like to visit. Capt. Arthur “A.D.” Colburn has said Chuck can put off making a final decision on where to go first until we reach the sea buoy Monday night.

“This is the nature of rapid response,” said Chuck.

The Dive and Discover team aboard the Atlantis will be posting daily updates, slide shows and videos on the expedition website between now and December 14th.

FILED UNDER: Human Impacts, Alvin, Gulf oil spill, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
October 18, 2010 | 9:52 PM | By

Celebrity sighting

Alvin – arguably the most recognized name in oceanography after Jacques Cousteau – is in town. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution held a meet-and-greet yesterday afternoon that was attended by hundreds of people. If you weren’t among them, you can still get a great virtual tour.

In its 46 years of life, the vehicle has safely transported over 2,500 researchers on more than 4,400 dives to depths of 14,764 feet. That’s a lot of numbers. Bottom line – Alvin has been invaluable to scientists’ explorations of the deep sea.

Alvin is in the midst of a multi-million dollar mid-life celebrity make-over. The new and improved Alvin will feature a ‘personnel sphere’ (that’s where the pilot and two scientists sit) that is almost 20% larger than the current version. That’s welcome news for those who have spent long, cramped hours in the sub. But the really big news is that the new Alvin will be able to stay down longer (up to 12 hours) and dive even deeper (6,500 rather than 4,500 meters), opening up parts of the ocean that have never been explored before.

FILED UNDER: Alvin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution