Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, March 12 (Xinhua) according to Xinhua News Agency, the "Discovery 1" research ship arrived in Sanya on the afternoon of March 11, carrying the "Endeavour" all-sea manned submersible, successfully completing the first international mission of manned deep diving around Oceania.

The scientific research, which began on October 6, 2022, has lasted for 157 days and has sailed more than 22000 nautical miles around Oceania, involving 10 domestic and foreign institutions. According to Chinanews.com, the Endeavour completed a total of 63 effective diving operations this time, of which 4 dived to a depth of more than 10,000 meters, with a maximum of 10010.9 meters (measured by the temperature and salt depth meter).

It is said that the Endeavour has dived 30 times in the Tiamantina abyss, covering almost all the different structural units on the axis of the Tiamantina abyss. In addition, the dive was completed twice in the Vallebi-Gaines abyss, reaching the deepest point in the area.

This voyage is a scientific research voyage of the first phase of the "Global abyss diving Exploration Program" led by the Deep Sea Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its success marks the maturity and stability of the operation and maintenance system of the manned submersible "Endeavour", expanding the scientific research of China's manned deep diving from the Mariana trench to many abyss trenches around the world, and opening the milestone of international cooperation and 10,000-meter manned deep diving.

Five foreign researchers from New Zealand's National Institute of Water and atmosphere and the Auckland Museum took part in the scientific research and dived with the Endeavour. Dr. Kareen Schnabel, a scientist at the National Institute of Water and atmosphere of New Zealand, and Deng Yuqing, a deep-sea diver at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, became the first women in human history to reach the deepest point of the Kmadek trench. Dr. Kareen Schnabel also became the first international passenger on the Endeavour.

According to public information, the Endeavour is a 10,000-meter manned submersible developed by China. The project was established in 2016 and was undertaken by a research team dominated by the research and development forces of the Jiaolong and Deep-sea Warriors. It was officially named Endeavour in June 2020. On November 10 of the same year, it successfully sat at the bottom of the Mariana Trench with a depth of 10909 meters, setting a new record for manned deep diving in China.

The submersible weighs about 36 tons, has a rated crew of 3, has 3 observation modules and two robotic arms, and is equipped with 7 cameras and 7 sonar equipment. it is also equipped with columnar sediment sampler, macro biological suction device, thermal insulation biological box, hydraulic drilling and cutting machine and other operating tools, which can work continuously for no less than 6 hours on the 10,000 meters of seafloor.

During this voyage, the scientific research team carried out the first large-scale and systematic manned deep diving survey in the Kmadak trench area of the southwest Pacific Ocean. For the first time in human history, they arrived at the bottom of the Timantina abyss and the Valebi-Gaines abyss in the southeastern Indian Ocean for field observation and sampling, and collected samples of abyss macroorganisms, rocks, nodules, sediments and water bodies. It provides important support for in-depth understanding of abyss life evolution and adaptation mechanism, abyss sedimentary environment evolution and so on.

Note: the Tiamantina Trench is the second deepest trench in the Indian Ocean, located 1125 kilometers west-southwest of Perth, Australia, with a depth of about 8047 meters. Details can be seen previously reported by CTOnews.com.

Related readings:

"the striver reached the bottom again, reaching the deepest point of the Tiamantina trench for the first time."

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