James Cameron Diving the Mariana Trench

[CeeKay]

the expedition is under way today:

Fewer people have reached the deepest point in the world's oceans than have walked on the Moon. Now that rare band is to be joined by a member of the Hollywood A-list.

James Cameron, the director behind Titanic and Avatar, is heading to the sea floor armed with 3D cameras and lights that will capture the moment for cinemagoers.

He set out from the Pacific island of Guam for the Mariana Trench, and is descending more than seven miles down in a lime green reinforced submersible, the first solo mission to the lowest point on Earth.

The Deepsea Challenger weighs 11 tons and was built amid great secrecy in Australia over the last eight years. During the nine-hour mission, the 6ft 2in film-maker is having to stand hunched, barely able to move in a 3ft-wide space, controlling movements with a joystick. The expedition was under way last night (Wednesday) although 57-year-old Cameron is out of communication.

hopefully everything goes well so he can continue working on the Avatar movies  

Seriously though, I look forward to seeing if he gets any decent footage down there.

[leo8877]

I can't wait to see the cool stuff they film!

[PR_GMR]

I can't wait to see the cool stuff they film!

+1

[CeeKay]

National Geographic video showing off his submersible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mBG0LbAoqk

this man has some cojones.

[rshetts2]

Wow this is amazing.  I agree this requires a major level of testicular fortitude.  Tip of the ole hat to Cameron and may his mission prove safe and successful.

[Kagath]

Pretty cool video. Any idea when they will release some of the stuff?

[Chaz]

Godspeed, you crazy bastard.  Hopefully there's something down there besides sand.

[Doopri]

this just in, the sub malfunctioned, stranding him on the bottom.  on the bright side, he was saved by previously unknown underwater aliens.

[leo8877]

Jim Cameron is at the bottom of the ocean now!

[rshetts2]

theres a facebook page where you can follow this at:   https://www.facebook.com/deepseachallenge

[leo8877]

theres a facebook page where you can follow this at:   https://www.facebook.com/deepseachallenge

Looks like he's back safe!

[EngineNo9]

So how long before we can watch a documentary about this?

[CeeKay]

So how long before we can watch a documentary about this?

however long it takes to remove all evidence of the underwater aliens from it 

[Doopri]

however long it takes to remove all evidence of the underwater aliens from it 

oh thank god i thought that wonderful, perfect and horrible joke went to waste!  also, i suffer from a bit of grandiosity and a tad of narcissism

[Razgon]

While the whole adventure is pretty damn cool, I find the fact that the engineer who created the submarine he uses is named Jacques Piccard makes the whole thing even more cool.

We all know who his son will become!

[Soulchilde]

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Sounds like he didn't see much:

"It was bleak," he said. "It looked like the moon."

As for life-forms, he said, "I didn't see a fish. ... I didn't find anything that looked alive to me, other than a few [shrimplike] amphipods in the water," he said from aboard the research vessel Mermaid Sapphire. (See pictures of giant amphipods.)

"I didn't feel like I got to a place where I could take interesting geology samples or found anything interesting biologically."

This may be, in part, because a hydraulic fluid leak convinced Cameron to end the mission after about three hours. Previous projections had him surveying and sampling Challenger Deep and its life-forms for as long as six hours.

[TK-421]

Still, the bragging rights are pretty big on this one.


James Cameron:  So, neighbor, what did you do this weekend?

James' neighbor:  I mowed my lawn and bought a new Garden Gnome.  You?

James:  Oh, nothing much.  Just went to the deepest, darkest, place on Earth where death was a constant possibility.

Neighbor:  Detroit?

[CeeKay]

some brief footage.

[metallicorphan]

from a cool thing to a shit thing..Cameron is now in London at the Premier of his movie Titanic in 3D   

Kate Winslet is also there,however Leonardo Di Caprico is not..what possible excuse could he have that would of out did what Cameron has done this week?(apart from "I Don't Want To Go")

[Razgon]

he took an arrow to the knee.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

It's really not surprising he didn't see much down there. At that depth, no light reaches the bottom and the pressure is incredibly high. My guess is that the only places that are biologically interesting (or at least with at a lot of life) at that depth are around hyrdrothermal vents.