If any what kind damage occured to the ships double bottom

[Dick Jackson Roe II]

If I remember right from William's website, he was familiar with the grounding theory and specifically wanted to search that area south and east to see what, if any, debris he might come across. His photos didn't turn out, and they were not careful to log exactly how many meters travelled. I say the next expedition should send the cameras down the spiral staircase and maybe even down the tunnel, and also into #s 2 & 3 holds all the way to the bottom to see what damage is there. True, damage may be from collision with the sea bed, but not all of it. Mrs. Buchanan's 6th grade class at Paola, KS Middle School enjoys my Titanic presentation every April.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>I say the next expedition should send the cameras down the spiral staircase and maybe even down the tunnel, and also into #s 2 & 3 holds all the way to the bottom to see what damage is there.<<

That proposition is one of the holy grails of some of us who have an interest in forensics issues. The catch is that it's already been attempted. Jim Cameron tried to get down the spiral staircase during his 2001 expedition but the wreckage was too extensive and the ROV's a bit too large to get down there without causing a cascade of debris that left the cameras blinded by silt. They had to abort the attempt.

I would hope that one day that a 'bot can be made which is small enough to do the job.

 

[Lucy Steigerwald]

I sure hope such a 'bot is invented before it's too late, due to the state of the wreck.

And imagine finding something really conclusive in respect to the double bottom! Thrilling.

 

[Peter Spielvogel]

Any idea how much sediment would be settled in the holds now? I'd imagine that much of the forward tanktop must be pretty well covered in mud by now if the bow is buried 60 feet in the ground. I don't know how much would be learned by sending a robot down there.

 

[Jeremy Lee]

Sediment may or may not be in the holds, as the bow ploughed headfirst into the ocean bottom. If plates gave way further, it is obvious that there would be sediment (and a lot of that) present in the holds, or else, over time sediment would get washed in.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

There is only one way to find out. An investment in the design of a mini-BOT would find other uses of course. The Titanic can be a test bed.

 

[Jeremy Lee]

The development of technology used on the wreck has not been improved or changed since the 1990s, its time for something new to be introduced in order to go deeper and discover more.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>The development of technology used on the wreck has not been improved or changed since the 1990s,<<

Actually, it has and quite a bit. The ROV's that were used on the Cameron Expedition last year were improvements over the equipment used in 2001, and which in turn was a vast improvement over what was being used in the 90's. Unfortunately, even with miniturization carried to the fullest possible extent, there's still the need for tethers to control them.

The development needed is to find a way to control the ROV's underwater remotely using wireless technology, and that the real kicker. Radio can only do so much and water tends to absorb radio waves. The frequencies which penetrate best are in the very low frequency range and can't carry a lot of information.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

For real-time imagery you need high frequency radio waves on a wireless connection. And that is the problem. If it were just control signals an ultrasonic carrier would work just fine. Hmmm. How much resolution and frame update rate do you need to just be able to see where your going? High resolution could then be stored on disk and brought back for post dive analysis.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>How much resolution and frame update rate do you need to just be able to see where your going?<<

Probably quite a bit and powerful lights as well. The size of the battery required to store enough power for that could be quite a stumbling block.