Page 9: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2012)

Blogs @ SeaDiscovery.comVirgin Oceanic Designs New One-Person SubmarineExcerpted from a post by Rhonda MonizVirgin Oceanic?s new submarine will carry one crewmember, weighing in at 8,000 lbs. the sub is designed to dive to depths of 37,000 ft., while cruising at between 2.2 and 3 knots. It can descend or ascend at a rate of 350 fpm, and provides life support for up to 24 hours. It is made with the latest in composite tech- nology and a completely unique flying wing to literallyfly within the ocean environment. Adventurer Steve Fossett had intended to complete the first solo dive to the depths of the Mariana Trench. Sir Richard?s , a closefriend and fellow explorer of Fossett commissioned the sub in an effort to finish what Fossett set out to accom- plish. The pressure in the ocean is 14.7 pounds per sq. in. for every 33 ft. we descend. At the bottom of the deepest trench ambient pressure exceeds 1,000 atmos- pheres. The sub is equipped with a quartz dome that will need to withstand 13 million pounds of pressure, the weight of three space shuttles. Designed by Graham Hawkes , it is the only piloted craft in exis-tence that has ?full ocean depth? capability. 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 while collecting video and data. A dive to the bottom of the Marianna trench and back is estimated to take about five hours. The mission of the sub over the course of the next sev- eral years will be to explore the deepest parts of the Earths five oceans. Piloted by Chris Welsh, co-founder and pilot, the first in the series of dives will be to the Mariana Trench at a depth of 7 miles. The second dive will be piloted by Sir Richard Branson, who will pilot the sub to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench, a depth greater than 5 miles. (Image: virginoceanic) MTR#1 (1-17):MTR Layouts 1/4/2012 1:56 PM Page 9