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James Cameron successfully dives to deepest point on Earth

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S

SCULLIBUNDO

Banned
UPDATED! 25/03/2012 EST/AUS
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This CNN article was just posted and then pulled. Luckily EcoRazzi - the team following Cameron's dives closely, cached it while it was up:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...eans-deepest-parts/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Editor's note: Watch CNN TV this week for exclusive coverage of James Cameron's final test dives before his attempt to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
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At more than 10,900 meters (35,800 feet), the Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall, and has had only two previous human visitors. In 1960, U.S. Navy Lt. Don Walsh and the late Swiss explorer Jacques Piccard descended into the deep in the bathyscaphe Trieste.

Scientists hope that Challenger Deep will provide insight into many unfamiliar life in the depths of the ocean. It is estimated that more than 750,000 marine species have not been formally described in scientific literature over the centuries, triple the number of those that have been. The figures exclude microbes, of which a 2010 census estimates there are up to 1 billion kinds.

Cameron and his team have secretly planned and plotted for five years to send the second manned vessel into the chasm. He has been conducting test deep sea dives inside his one-man submersible for several weeks.

He says he plans to spend six hours in the pitch-black waters on the ocean floor using remote arms to collect samples for research in marine biology, microbiology, astrobiology, marine geology and geophysics. His vehicle is decked out with advanced technology including a 3-D camera that he hopes will capture rare forms of sea life so he can turn his deep dive adventure into a movie.
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http://www.ecorazzi.com/2012/03/02/james-cameron-is-diving-the-mariana-trench-soon/

screwing up royally on this kind of adventure means instant death.

“At 35,800 feet there is over 1085 atmospheres of pressure, translating to 16,000 lbs\sq in, or 2.3 million pounds of pressure per square foot,” they wrote. “Hard to believe any man-made submarine could withstand that kind of pressure. Pretty amazing. And I’d say it takes guts to put yourself in that kind of situation. The GOOD news is that, if something DID give at that depth, the implosion would be so fast and total you’d never feel it.”
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More at the links.

So it looks like his final test dives will happen this week, with the dive itself taking place the following week.

I think it is a pretty damn incredible undertaking. I would shit myself at the prospect of that much pressure being exerted on my tiny submersible and being so ridiculously far from help. Any one thing goes wrong and it is instant death alone at the bottom of the ocean? Fuck that.

But then there is also the huge promise of new, never before seen life down there.

Good luck, Jim!
 
M

maquiladora

Member
He says he plans to spend six hours in the pitch-black waters on the ocean floor using remote arms to collect samples for research in marine biology, microbiology, astrobiology, marine geology and geophysics.
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Is such a thing even possible...
 
S

SCULLIBUNDO

Banned
HolyCheck said:
so they did it in the 60's but we haven't done it since...
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Two people did it in the 60's only they couldn't see anything because of how dark it is down there and they had no equipment to do anything else. I believe the longest they stayed was 40 minutes.

Cameron is going down there with hi-tech lights, 3D cameras and will be staying on the ocean floor for six hours.
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
He's looking for R'lyeh.

Seriously though, that's fucking cool. I've always loved how Cameron throws so much money at exploring the "local outer space", i.e. the deep ocean. Can't believe he's in a billionarie's race with Branson. Go 1%!

(He's also seemingly the only filmmaker alive who can film a "water movie" and not have disastrous consequences to the budget.)
 
T

Tobor

Member
Scullibundo said:
You can't knock the writer of Aliens whilst being a champion for the writer of Alien Resurrection.
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We've had this discussion already. Whatever screenwriting ability Cameron had is long gone. Time to turn over the keyboard to someone else for his movies.
 
S

Snake

Member
Cameron may be a hard guy to live with but I can't fault his passions. This stuff is truly awesome and I wish him good luck.
 
S

SCULLIBUNDO

Banned
Shatner's Bassoon said:
I'll wait until someone goes down with IMAX cameras.
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I don't think life-vests are to Nolan's style, bro.

But that is getting away from the topic at hand - something I would certainly never encourage.

This is actually a pretty amazing feat he's attempting and all GAF can muster is cynical jokes.
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
I respect and admire James Cameron even though he disappointed me with Avatar.

(He's also seemingly the only filmmaker alive who can film a "water movie" and not have disastrous consequences to the budget.)
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Budget-wise, Titanic was a disaster. Its only chance of being profitable was for it to be the most successful movie of all-time.
 
K

Kinyou

Member
It's amazing how this only the second time someone is going down there

Do we even know if fish still live down there?
 
B

Borgnine

MBA in pussy licensing and rights management
I don't see what the big deal is, I just need two stout men to work the bellows.
 
S

SCULLIBUNDO

Banned
Tobor said:
We've had this discussion already. Whatever screenwriting ability Cameron had is long gone. Time to turn over the keyboard to someone else for his movies.
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Apart from T2 and an early draft of T1, Avatar was actually one of the rare times he DID have a co-writer. And when he brought her on, everything became simplified from his original treatment. Not that I'm blaming her, but the call for another writer to work with Cameron is stupid, since that has happened on the film you say is an indication of him needing one.
 
K

Koodo

Banned
It annoys me how one of my favorite directors takes his hobbies so damn seriously.

I just want more movies you fucker. :(
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
Computer said:
Budget-wise, Titanic was a disaster. Its only chance of being profitable was for it to be the most successful movie of all-time.
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Yeah but he's done that, like, 5 or 6 times now.

Each time he makes a movie, a bunch of interviewers say "this was the most expensive movie of all time!!"

And then he breaks a record. It's like clockwork.
 
R

RoyalFool

Banned
I hope during those 6 dark hours he decides to forget Avatar 2 and 3 and goes straight on to making Gunnm. Been waiting for that movie for almost a decade now!
 
B

Bombadil

Banned
I hope that one of those giant prehistoric sea creatures still survives down their in the Trench.

This is very exciting.
 
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