Jan. 4, 2008: John Bailey and Rob Reves-Sohn tested a tether and release design for a weight that will be attached to each autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to make it descend faster and more energy efficiently. The problem they had to solve was how to put the AUV and the weight into the water without breaking the magnesium links in the tether that are meant to corrode and release the weight when the AUV reaches its survey depth. On the first test, the corrodible magnesium links broke because there wasn’t enough bungee to cushion the fall of the weight. On the second test, they used more bungee—and this time it worked! (Courtesy of Dan Conrad)
More videos:
Jan. 3, 2008: The autonomous underwater vehicle Jaguar has been running and chirping in the hangar. View video »
Jan. 3, 2008: The crane lowers the CTD sampling system for a test deployment down to a depth of about 4,700 meters (Almost 3 miles). View video »
Jan. 7, 2008: The CTD is recovered over the starboard (right) side of the ship. View video »
Jan. 8, 2008: Puma is launched from the starboard (right) side of the Knorr. View video »
Jan. 8, 2008: A sound-transmitting transponder that will form part of the long baseline navigation system on the seafloor is deployed over the fantail. View video »
Jan. 13, 2008: The main lab on the Knorr bustled this afternoon as everyone prepared for a Jaguar dive this evening. View video »
Jan. 13, 2008: Researchers bring Puma on board after a successful mission and help settle the robot in its wooden cradle. View video »
Jan. 15, 2008: Ko-ichi Nakamura and Susan Humphris collect samples of
red-brown sediment that stuck to Jaguar's "skin." View video »
