2012, o ano em que fomos a fundo... no estudo do Planeta!

Mais um momento emocionante para a ciência em 2012 - o ano em que "FOMOS FUNDO" estudando o planeta: após a perfuração final de mais de 4km de gelo antártico atingir o Lago Vostok em 5 de fevereiro último*, agora foi a vez do retorno à Depressão Challenger - "desafiadora", de fato - após 52 anos da última tentativa em batiscafo tripulado. Esse é o ponto mais baixo da superfície terrestre, dentro da Fossa das Marianas, um canhão submarino 120 vezes mais largo que o Grand Canyon e sentado entre duas placas tectônicas. Está perto das Ilhas Marianas, a 306 km de Guam, no meio do Oceano Pacífico.

Hoje, domingo, dia 25 de março de 2012, um cineasta riquíssimo colocou seu dinheiro para um bom uso!

(imagem acima: Don Walsh e Jacques Piccard a 10.911 m de profundidade na frustrada descida anterior, ocorrida em 1960)

James Cameron Reaches Bottom of Mariana Trench

by Michael dEstries March 25, 2012

Categories: Entertainment, Pop Culture, Science
Tags: james cameron.
Photo: National Geographic

After years of planning and developing a sub that could make his dream a reality, James Cameron today finally touched down at the ocean’s deepest point – 35,756 feet in the belly of the Mariana Trench.
Cameron became the first solo diver ever to reach such a depth; joining only two other men who performed the same feat back in 1960. A number of differences exist however between now and then – the most obvious being that the director is armed to the teeth with high-definition cameras, robotic instruments and other gizmos numbering 180 working systems.
The other being Twitter. A few minutes after he made the record dive, Cameron tweeted: “Just arrived at the ocean’s deepest pt. Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can’t wait to share what I’m seeing w/ you.”
That last part is particularly important – since the crew of the Trieste 50 years ago stirred up so much silt upon their arrival that photos just weren’t possible. Cameron’s images and videos will shed new light on a place few have ever seen before. He’ll also spend more than six hours on the bottom conducting experiments, exploring the surrounding area, and looking for life. The Trieste had less than 20 minutes.
From National Geographic:

Upon touchdown at Challenger Deep, Cameron’s first target is a phone booth-like unmanned “lander” dropped into the trench hours before his dive.
Using sonar, “I’m going to attempt to rendezvous with that vehicle so I can observe animals that are attracted to the chemical signature of its bait,” Cameron told National Geographic News before the dive.
He’ll later follow a route designed to take him through as many environments as possible, surveying not only the sediment-covered seafloor but also cliffs of interest to expedition geologists.

As a further reminder of how extreme conditions at the bottom of the trench are, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen (who has been in touch with the dive team) recently tweeted: ”Pressure at bottom is 16,285 Pounds per square inch at that depth. Design pressure was 16,500 …Yikes/Amazing!”
Leave it to Cameron and his team to nail this dive. Well done everyone – and congrats!
Visit the DeepSea Challenge website here – and follow along the action on Twitter and Facebook. Images as we get ‘em!
FONTE: http://www.ecorazzi.com/2012/03/25/james-cameron-reaches-bottom-of-mariana-trench/
======
Saiba mais:

• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120324-james-cameron-mariana-trench-dive-deepest-science-sub/
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/25/james-cameron-mariana-trench-dive_n_1378507.html
• http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21620-james-cameron-set-for-a-mariana-trench-sequel.html
• VIDEO da missão: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/habitats-environment/habitats-oceans-env/cameron-how-deep/
• VIDEO: JÁ NA FORMA DE "TRAILER"... http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/habitats-environment/habitats-oceans-env/james-cameron-mariana/?source=news_cameron_story
• Como sobreviver a 1120 atmosferas? http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/habitats-environment/habitats-oceans-env/cameron-sub-sphere/
• o QUE CAMERON SENTIRÁ: http://deepseachallenge.com/the-expedition/the-experience/?source=cameron_sub_news
• a ciência que se pretende fazer: http://deepseachallenge.com/the-science/?source=cameron_sub_news
  
  HISTÓRIA:
  
• O pioneiro de 1960, Jacques Piccard (um dos muitos Piccards suíço-americanos, aventureiros e balonistas, e sobrinho de Jean Piccard, que inspirou o nome do capitão da Enterprise em STTNG): http://deepseachallenge.com/the-expedition/1960-dive/?source=cameron_sub_news
• Sobre o outro pioneiro de 1960, Don Walsh, que esteve lá com Jacques Piccard : http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228416.000-the-worlds-deepest-man.html
• Kaiko, sonda robítica japonesa que fez centenas de mergulhos profundos entre 1885 e 2003, quando se perdeu em um tufão: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiko
• Nereus, sonda robótica de 2009:http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17242-robot-sub-reaches-the-worlds-deepest-abyss.html
• Drop Cam 2011: amebas gigantes avistadas na fossa das Marianas: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/10/111026-deepest-mariana-trench-giant-amoebas-science-oceans/

--------------------
(*) Sobre a perfuração que atingiu o Lago Vostok na Antártida:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16907998
http://rt.com/news/vostok-lake-drilling-scientists-701/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/world/europe/russian-scientists-bore-into-ancient-antarctic-lake.html
http://www.aari.nw.ru/main.php?id=1&sub=0&prms=idnew:865 (foto equipe)

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-lost-world-of-lake-vostok/ (documentário legal)