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Revealing Titanic's Secrets
Filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron's passion for diving and ocean exploration has led not only to many trips to Titanic, but also to the creation of high-tech, remotely operated vehicles (ROV) that have documented more than 60 percent of the ship's surviving interior spaces. In 1995, Cameron made the first of twelve dives to the shipwreck to gather video. He descended in Russian Mir submersibles, designed to withstand the nearly 6,000 pounds of pressure per square inch exerted at a depth of two and a half miles. Deploying an ROV named Snoop Dog, attached to Mir by tether, Cameron lit and photographed the grand staircase and D Deck, shooting images for the closing scenes of his blockbuster film, Titanic.
Cameron returned to the wreck site in 2001 and 2005 and eventually totaled 33 dives to the ship, averaging fourteen hours per round trip. For the 2001 dives, Cameron and his engineering partner, Vince Pace, developed a digital three-dimensional camera system and installed it in agile, revolutionary ROVs that explored deep inside Titanic's interior. The resulting images were used in the 3-D Imax documentary Ghosts of the Abyss. Back again for a 2005 documentation, Cameron deployed an even smaller ROV that reached the ship's Turkish baths and passenger rooms. Surprisingly, Cameron found much of the mahogany paneling and furnishings relatively intact, sheltered from biological decay consuming much of the exterior. Through careful on-site observation and analysis, Cameron recently reconstructed the details of Titanic's breakup and sinking.
Cameron's eighth deep ocean expedition is with a unique manned submersible. After seven years of engineering effort, Cameron successfully piloted the sub, called Deepsea Challenger, to the lowest point in the Mariana Trench. The record-breaking solo dive, to a depth of 35,756 feet, makes Cameron the first human to descend to the trench alone. He hopes to continue explorations in other virtually unknown deep-water habitats such as the New Britain Trench and the Sirena Deep. He is also developing an environmentally themed expedition series for television. |