Director James Cameron dives deep with the RBR DR-1050
Ottawa, Ontario (June 14th, 2012) - RBR Ltd. is proud to be part of the historic first solo deep dive into the Mariana Trench by James Cameron. The Avatar film director descended to the deepest-known point on Earth through a joint expedition with National Geographic and Rolex, named “Deepsea Challenge.” Cameron's Expedition relied on a manned submersible and two unmanned free vehicles known as "landers". The landers made scouting dives for the submersible, and independent dives for scientific sampling and measurement.
Cameron's primary goal was to gain greater insight into the largely unexplored abyss at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, while bringing attention to the technologies now available to explore below 6000m. Cameron plunged to the depth of 35,756 feet (10898 meters) to gather research samples for marine biology, geology and marine chemistry. Using the RBR depth recorder the DR-1050 (titanium), the director was able to capture data on pressure to verify his record-breaking deep dive, and to correlate with high definition stereo images of the life forms and geologic features found at extreme depths.
The Challenger Deep is located in the Mariana Trench 200nm southwest of Guam. It is the deepest part of the world’s oceans. According to the mission organized by National Geographic, Cameron’s journey to the down to the bottom of the Trench took two hours and 36 minutes, and an astonishing 90 minute rise time. He spent more than 3 hours surveying the bottom.
The DR-1050 is a small (38mm diameter, 220mm long), self-contained, submersible depth or pressure recorder. Pressure measurements are made to 24-bit resolution. The DR-1050 is calibrated to an accuracy of ±0.05 % full scale using NIST traceable standards.
Kevin Hardy, who designed, built, and operated Cameron's unmanned Landers, perfected his craft during 36 years at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UCSD in San Diego. The new free vehicles were outfitted with sensors and samplers, including RBR's DR-1050 (titanium), especially adapted for the extreme depths of the Challenger Deep. The ocean engineer noted, “Your devices performed brilliantly. They were tremendously helpful in post-dive analysis to determine fall rate, bottom time, release time, and rise rate. I wish more of our gear worked as effortlessly as your pressure logger…I'm just delighted you were able to push the boundaries of your sensor systems to reach the deepest depths with James Cameron and myself.”
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography is one of the oldest, largest, and most important centers for ocean and earth science research, education, and public service in the world. Research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography encompasses physical, chemical, biological, geological, and geophysical studies of the oceans and earth.
RBR Ltd. (www.rbr-global.com) is a private company based in Ottawa, Canada, with 35 years of experience delivering superior submersible data loggers, recorders, sondes, controllers and sensors for unparalleled measurement of water quality. Oceanographic instruments of the finest caliber are designed and manufactured in Ottawa, for use around the world. RBR Ltd. offers sensors for precise measurement of temperature, depth, and conductivity as well as a multitude of specialized sensors for oceanographic, freshwater, cryospheric, estuarine and coastal monitoring.
For more information, contact Emily MacPherson at RBR (+1.613.599.8900) / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
