Filmmaker in Submarine Voyages to Bottom of Sea

By WILLIAM J. BROAD

James Cameron, the filmmaker whose credits include “Avatar” and “Titanic,” plunged on Sunday in a minisubmarine of his own design to the bottom of the planet’s deepest recess, sinking through the dark waters of the western Pacific to a depth of nearly seven miles.

The National Geographic Society, which is helping sponsor the expedition, the first in 52 years to descend so deep, said he reached the bottom at 5:52 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Mr. Cameron returned to the surface Sunday evening, according to Stephanie Montgomery of the National Geographic Society, The Associated Press reported. His return was a “faster-than-expected 70-minute ascent,” according to National Geographic.

After seven years of planning — done with a team in Australia and largely in secret — Mr. Cameron strode up to his sleek 24-foot-long craft, folded his frame into a steel personal capsule just 43 inches wide and plummeted through miles of icy darkness into a trough known as the Challenger Deep. Rough seas had delayed his dive about two weeks.

“Just arrived at the ocean’s deepest pt,” Mr. Cameron said in a Twitter message earlier on Sunday. “Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can’t wait to share what I’m seeing w/ you.”

Mr. Cameron’s vehicle is unique among submersibles, its vertical axis meant to speed its descent and maximize time on the bottom. His goal is to explore the dark seabed for six hours, taking pictures and extracting samples of the fauna, before returning to sunny realms. Mr. Cameron, 57, practiced yoga to train for what is likely to be about nine hours of keeping his knees bent and body largely immobile.

Five people have died in submersible accidents over the decades, and Mr. Cameron said the risks he faced were acceptable given the testing that his craft’s parts have undergone and its backup gear for such critical systems as electrical power and life support.

His dive signals the rising importance of entrepreneurs in the global race to advance science and technology. No government can send people so deep. His team includes scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the University of Hawaii, and other organizations.

Mr. Cameron’s plunge comes a quarter-century after he began work on “The Abyss” (1989), the first of his movies to display a fascination with the deep sea.

The Challenger Deep, which extends 6.8 miles below the ocean’s surface, is the lowest point of the Mariana Trench, itself the deepest of the many seabed recesses that crisscross the globe. The only other time humans have gone there was in 1960, when the United States Navy sent down two men who stayed 20 minutes. Their craft’s landing stirred up so much ooze that the divers could see little during their stay on the bottom, and they took no pictures.

By contrast, Mr. Cameron has packed his craft with cameras and recording devices and plans to make at least two movies: a 3-D production for wide-screen theaters, and a National Geographic TV special. His aim is to film the realm’s unfamiliar life.

Advising him on his Pacific expedition is Don Walsh, a retired Navy officer who in 1960 dived into the Challenger Deep and the record books.

“I feel so fortunate,” Dr. Walsh said in an e-mail. “Dudes my age are mostly sitting in rockers passing around snapshots of grandkids and great-grandkids.”

Early this month, after Mr. Cameron took his submarine on a test plunge to a depth of five miles, he immediately e-mailed Dr. Walsh to describe the experience and his craft’s performance.

“Overall the vehicle performed like a champ,” Mr. Cameron said. “Plenty of power, and even though I lost one thruster, I still had 11 left, so the massive-redundancy approach worked.”

Time will tell how his craft handles the greater stresses of the Challenger Deep, where the waters overhead press down with a pressure of more than eight tons per square inch.

In an interview, Mr. Cameron noted that Pennsylvania State University had used a pressure chamber to test the strength of the capsule.

“You’re going into one of the most unforgiving places on earth,” he said. “It’s not like you can call up AAA to come get you.”

潛入全球最深海溝 卡麥隆辦到了

以執導「鐵達尼號」、「無底洞」、「阿凡達」等海洋及科幻鉅片而蜚聲國際影壇的加拿大導演詹姆士卡麥隆，在太平洋時間26日完成下潛至全球最深「馬里亞納海溝」(Mariana Trench)的壯舉。

卡麥隆與國家地理學會(NGS)組成的科學研究團隊，是在當地時間24日上午由密克羅尼西亞的尤利西珊瑚礁，搭乘兩艘船前往馬里亞納海溝，執行這次探險行動，並進行科學研究和拍攝影片。NGS聲明指出，卡麥隆是在26日上午8時之前，駕駛「深淵挑戰者」(Deepsea Challenger)完成下潛近七哩的深度。

卡麥隆駕駛的12噸重的潛艇，約在美東時間25日晚間下潛至3萬5756呎深的海底，下潛使用時間逾兩個小時。他一抵達海底，即向水面監控中心回報「系統一切正常」。

馬里亞納海溝位在關島西南方約200哩處，深度比世界最高峰聖母峰的高度還超出一哩，並比亞利桑納州壯麗的大峽谷大上120倍。卡麥隆潛至海底後，即按計畫進行約六個小時的科學研究和拍攝影片的工作。

卡麥隆為了這一次探險，已經準備長達七年之久，而且每天保持游泳習慣，以及勤練瑜伽以提高身體柔軟度，並加強深海科學的知識。在他之前，美國海軍與瑞士科學家曾在1960年執行類似的探險，但當時受到潛艇激起的汙泥影響，而功敗垂成。

卡麥隆的探險將有助人類調整研究尋找外星生命，如又能搜集到岩石樣本，將有助了解地球深處的構造。NGS執行副總裁賈西亞指出：「這次真正是第一次讓人類的眼界有機會一睹馬里亞納海溝的海底奇景。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/science/james-camerons-submarine-trip-to-challenger-deep.html

2012-03-26．聯合晚報．A6．國際焦點．國際新聞組