Thursday, July 21, 2011

How they found Titanic

How they found Titanic


In 1983, the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), and later the Office of Naval Technology (ONT), awarded DSL A $2.8 million to build a revolutionary exploration vehicle system called Argo/Jason. The first phase of that development effort was the building of the Argo search system, a towed vehicle equipped with low-light level television cameras and capable of working to depths of 20,000 feet. Argo was successfully tested in the summer of 1985 at the Titanic site, resulting in the luxury liner’s discovery.

Testing of the prototype Jason vehicle, a much smaller remotely operated or tethered vehicle named Jason Jr., and development of a fiber optic handling system for use in the deep sea was a major challenge in 1986. Fiber optic cables, although common today, were not in use in the deep sea and required significant engineering advances. Unlike traditional coaxial cables with limited bandwidth, fiber optic cables permit transmission of vast amounts of color imagery, other data and power. No one had successfully operated an ROV in very deep water, nor used a fiber optic cable system like this in the deep sea.

The original Jason was retired after ten years of successful operation and replaced in 2002 with the current Jason, capable of reaching depths to 6,500 meters (21,320 feet).  That vehicle, currently at sea in the western Pacific, is part of the U.S. National Deep Submergence Facility operated by WHOI for the American ocean research community.



The improvements to the vehicle include several electronics upgrades and the addition of a target acoustic system, which enables AMPS to broadcast sounds associated with an operating submarine, improving the realism of the training target presented to ASW units. The acoustic target was requested, says Johnston, “because the ASW crews use sonobuoys to locate and track a submarine’s position. By installing these upgrades, they will have not only the training using visual detection and surface radars, but also using the sonobuoys and other acoustic systems. So the AMPS can present a more realistic target by raising its periscope close to the surface for a few minutes, giving the ASW crew the opportunity to look for the vehicle with radar, and then submerging, giving them the acoustic perspective.” Johnston added that several iterations of that sort of exercise could be accomplished, simulating submarine activity in a littoral area.
By November 2001, acceptance testing had been accomplished, and the vehicle was received by the PMRF. Division personnel then trained members of ITT, a contractor company used by the facility, who subsequently operates and maintains AMPS. After the acceptance, PMRF asked to have the upgrade work done on the vehicle. “The first thing we did was to improve the design of the electronics by streamlining the wiring and the placement of equipment,” Johnston. “We did this to improve the serviceability, making maintenance of the unit much easier. The maintenance technicians can more easily find troubleshooting checkpoints, trace wiring, and replace defective components and sensors. Components also were rearranged and shielded to minimize any electromagnetic interference. We also built an additional set of electronics, so in the event of a problem onboard, the entire electronics set can be replaced with the spare set, minimizing AMPS downtime. While AMPS is still online, the technicians can repair the electronic problem offline.” The new electronics were constructed under a contract with EG&G and tested for operational compliance at West Bethesda in Code 5300’s electronics lab space.




Sources:
Whoi.edu
titanic-nauti..
Photography.natio..
MysticAquarium