January 14, 2008

Hello. My name is Daniel D. Lee, and I am in Ms. Sheilds 7th grade class in Clarke Middle School, and I was wondering about what would happen when both Puma and Jaguar aren't working properly?

From,
Daniel D. Lee

Hi Daniel:

The engineers work very hard on board the ship to keep the vehicles working. At the moment, we have only one vehicle in the water at a time, so they have time to work on the other one while it is on deck.

If we have some time when neither vehicle is ready to go in the water, we always put the ship to work accomplishing other scientific objectives. Ship time is expensive, so there is not a moment to waste! On this cruise, we have been making a bathymetry map of the area that we are working, so have been doing survey lines collecting sonar data with the ship’s multibeam system. That is now completed, so our next task will be to collect some rocks using a dredge that dragged behind the ship across the seafloor.

Good question – thank you.

Susan Humphris

Dear Dive and Discover Scientists,
Hello. I am a seventh grade student in Ms. Sheild's class in Lexington MA. I was wondering how long Puma and Jaguar could last underwater before they ran out of power. Also, what would happen if they ran out of power while down mapping the ocean floor, miles beneath the Knorr? Would they be able to get back to the ship, or would they have to be retrieved in some other way? Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Sincerely,
Verena

Dear Verena:

Puma and Jaguar have about 18-20 hours of battery power. How long they can stay at their survey depth depends on how much power they use descending and ascending.

Both vehicles are slightly positively buoyant, so if they run out of power at depth, they will slowly float to the surface, and then the Knorr can retrieve them.

Thanks for following along!

Susan Humphris

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