𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 — 𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐧, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐚

 

A team led by inventor and oceanographic enthusiast 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝘂 has unveiled a new experimental submersible designed to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Constructed from a proprietary paper-based composite, the vessel — named 𝑶𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒙 — is slated for a deep-sea descent in early August.

 

Cousteau, who identifies as a grand-nephew of famed explorer Jacques Cousteau, described the craft as “𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡.” He emphasized that the materials, although unconventional, have undergone what he called "𝑎 𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠."

 

The project has been privately funded by a small group of ultra-high-net-worth individuals who, according to a press release, will comprise the entire passenger list. “𝐷𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛, 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦,” said Cousteau. “𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑐.”

 

The 𝑶𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒙 will be remotely piloted from the surface using a custom-designed interface based in part on legacy control hardware. “𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦,” said project engineer Carla Voss, referencing the modified Atari joystick used for navigation.

 

While the decision to use paper-based material has raised some eyebrows in the marine engineering community, Cousteau remains confident. “𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑢𝑜𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦,” he said, adding that the vessel “𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑧𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒.”

 

The voyage’s stated purpose is twofold: to document deep-sea ecological impacts and to conduct preliminary assessments of underwater mineral potential. “𝑅𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑦 71% 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑛’𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔...” said one spokesperson. “𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 — 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦.”

 

Safety precautions have been outlined in the mission briefing, which includes strict air quality controls and a no-smoking policy, in consideration of the vessel’s flammable construction.

 

When asked about the future of this design approach, Cousteau replied, “𝑊𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑤-𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 — 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛.”

The 𝑶𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒙 will undergo a series of buoyancy and pressure chamber tests prior to its scheduled deployment in the Challenger Deep.