Hollywood director James Cameron has returned to the surface after plunging nearly 11km (seven miles) down to the deepest place in the ocean, the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. He made the solo descent in a submarine called Deepsea Challenger, taking over two hours to reach the bottom.

What did Cameron see in the Mariana Trench?

Returning from humankind's first solo dive to the deepest spot in the ocean, filmmaker James Cameron said he saw no obvious signs of life that might inspire creatures in his next "Avatar" movie but was awestruck by the "complete isolation."

Who touched the Mariana Trench?

In 1960, Navy Lt. Don Walsh (along with Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard) became the first person to descend to the deepest part of the ocean, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench.

How deep did Jacques Piccard go?

In 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh piloted the Trieste on its plunge to the deepest point on Earth – a 10,916 metres (35,800 foot) depression called the Challenger Deep. Lt.

How did James Cameron go so deep?

When he traveled to the Mariana Trench, considered one of the deepest spots in the Earth's oceans at almost seven miles below the surface, he did it in a 24-foot submersible vehicle he helped design, the Deepsea Challenger.

James Cameron Dives to Deepest Part of the Ocean Inside the Mariana Trench

Has anyone been to the bottom of the Mariana Trench?

Nobody has walked on the bottom of the Mariana trench, but six people have descended to it in submersibles. The onboard systems indicated a depth of 37,800 feet (11,521 m; 6,300 fathoms), but this was later revised to 35,814 feet (10,916 m; 5,969 fathoms).

Did Jacques Piccard survive?

The Trieste was sold to the United States Navy, which was looking for a dumping ground for nuclear waste in an area devoid of marine life. Piccard and Walsh did find life, even at this depth, scuppering the US dumping plans. Jacques Piccard died aged 86 in 2008. Don Walsh 88, is still alive.

What is the deepest man ever went?

Today, we're hearing from an explorer's explorer, Victor Vescovo. His Five Deeps Expedition made him the first person to reach the deepest point of the Atlantic, Southern Ocean, and set a depth record in the Mariana Trench at 35,853 ft.

What is the deepest dive in history?

Sixty years ago, on 23 January 1960, then–U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard descended 35,814 feet to the lowest known spot on Earth—the Pacific Ocean's Challenger Deep—in the bathyscaphe Trieste.

How deep did James Cameron go in the Mariana Trench?

On 26 March 2012, Cameron reached the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. The maximum depth recorded during this record-setting dive was 10,908 metres (35,787 ft). Measured by Cameron, at the moment of touchdown, the depth was 10,898 m (35,756 ft).

Is there anything deeper than the Mariana Trench?

Perhaps the most intriguing of these features is the Mariana Trench — a chasm in the western Pacific Ocean that spans more than 1,580 miles (2,540 kilometers) and is home to the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point on Earth's surface that plunges more than 36,000 feet (about 11,000 meters) underwater.

How deep did James Cameron go?

On 26 March 2012, filmmaker and explorer James Cameron made a record-breaking solo dive 10,908 metres (35,787 feet) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean in the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER submersible vessel to reach the world's deepest frontier.

What creature was found in the Mariana Trench?

The gelatinous snailfish has been found at depths surpassing 8,000 meters (26,200 feet), making it the deepest living fish known to science. Called the Mariana snailfish, it's been spied with the aid of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) multiple times in the Mariana Trench.

How long did James Cameron stay in the Mariana Trench?

After as long as six hours in the trench, Cameron—best known for creating fictional worlds on film (Avatar, Titanic, The Abyss)—is to jettison steel weights attached to the sub and shoot back to the surface.

How cold is Mariana Trench?

The temperature at the bottom is 1 to 4 °C (34 to 39 °F). In 2009, the Mariana Trench was established as a US National Monument.

What would happen if we fell into the Mariana Trench?

The pressure from the water would push in on the person's body, causing any space that's filled with air to collapse. (The air would be compressed.) So, the lungs would collapse. At the same time, the pressure from the water would push water into the mouth, filling the lungs back up again with water instead of air.

How deep can humans dive before being crushed by pressure?

While there's no precise depth at which a human would be 'crushed', diving beyond certain limits (around 60 meters) without proper equipment and gas mixes can lead to serious health issues due to the pressure effects on the body, including nitrogen narcosis and oxygen toxicity.

Why was the deepest man-made hole sealed?

Despite going so deep, the borehole was eventually sealed for various reasons, including safety, environmental concerns and financial crunch.

What did Jacques Piccard discover in the Mariana Trench?

Oceanographer and Engineer

Born in Brussels, Belgium in 1922, Piccard is best known for his work preventing the stockpiling of nuclear waste in the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the western Pacific Ocean. In 1960, he dived with American Lieutenant Don Walsh and found signs of life 10,916 metres deep.

How did Trieste not implode?

Separate tanks in the bathyscaph's body held gasoline and water to provide buoyancy. To descend, Trieste's water tanks were filled and gasoline was released. Iron pellets, acting as ballast, were emptied out of two hoppers, causing her to rise to the surface.

Who reached the bottom of the ocean?

In 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard were the first two humans to reach Challenger Deep, completing that dive as a team. 52 years later, James Cameron became the first person to solo dive that point.

Why can't we go in the Mariana Trench?

At the deepest point in the ocean, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the pressure reaches an astonishing 15,000 psi. That's over a thousand times the atmospheric pressure at sea level. To explore the ocean's depths, we need vehicles that can withstand this immense pressure.

Is the Mariana Trench fully explored?

The Mariana Trench is one of the least explored places on Earth. Deep enough to swallow Mt. Everest, the Mariana Trench was first pinpointed in 1951 by the British Survey ship Challenger II. Known since as Challenger Deep, it was not visited for nearly ten years.