The submersible vehicle that was lost at sea is part of a relatively new effort that allows tourists and other paying customers to explore the depths of the ocean, the vast majority of which have never been seen by human eyes.
Although people have explored the ocean’s surface for tens of thousands of years, only about 20% of the sea floor has been mapped, according to 2022 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
+ What is known about the submarine that took tourists to the Titanic
Researchers often say that traveling into space is easier than diving to the bottom of the ocean. While 12 astronauts spent a collective total of 300 hours on the lunar surface, only three people spent about three hours exploring Challenger Deep, the deepest known point of Earth’s seafloor, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
In fact, “we have better maps of the Moon and Mars than we do of our own planet,” said Dr. Gene Feldman, an emeritus NASA oceanographer who spent more than 30 years at the space agency.
There’s a reason why human exploration of the deep sea has been so limited: Traveling to the depths of the ocean means entering a realm with enormous levels of pressure the farther down you go – a high-risk undertaking. The environment is dark with almost no visibility. Cold temperatures are extreme.
The submersible was carrying five people to explore the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which lies about 1,450 kilometers off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and about 3,800 meters underwater. Operated by OceanGate Expeditions, a private company based in Washington state, the tourist vessel lost contact with its mother ship Sunday night.
#depths #ocean #risky #explore