Archive for Upgrade

Changing Times and Timeless Missions

Posted by Peter Girguis 
· Wednesday, March 26th, 2014 
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Pilot-in-training Nathan Brown (left) and WHOI scientist Susan Humphris talk with Peter Girguis, chief scientist of the expedition and chair of the Deep Submergence Science Committee (DESSC). Humphris, Brown, and Pilot Bob Waters were on Alvin’s first dive of this cruise. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Photo credit Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Over the last 12 days a team of scientists, engineers, technicians, submersible pilots, and ship’s crew sailed into the Gulf of Mexico and took the United States’ newest research submersible, the human-occupied vehicle (HOV) Alvin, on its first scientific dives. Though the sub had been through a number of rigorous Navy certification dives to ensure that it can safely transport its occupants to and from the cold, dark deep, Alvin’s scientific equipment had yet to be thoroughly tested. Read More →

Skyping Ship to Shore

Posted by Heather Olins 
· Tuesday, March 25th, 2014 

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Alvin Expedition Leader Bruce Strickrott answers questions from students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) in Cambridge, Mass., in a Skype conversation from sea. Harvard graduate student Heather Olins facilitates the discussion. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Chief Scientist Peter Girguis describes the science goals of the Alvin Science Verification Cruise to the CRLS students. In the background, Harvard graduate student Heather Olins points out an attachment point on the stern of the Alvin submarine. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Today a group of us were able to spend an hour with ~50 high school students from Cambridge, Mass., via Skype. Ship-to-shore communication is often difficult, so we were very happy that we were able to maintain video and audio connection for the entire conversation. The goal was to tell these students what we were doing out here, talk about what it’s like to work with Alvin, and more broadly what it’s like to do science at sea. Read More →

First Dive

Posted by Chris Linder 
· Sunday, March 16th, 2014 
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On March 15, 2014, the submersible Alvin conducted its first science mission since a major upgrade began in 2011. In the personnel sphere were WHOI scientist and leader of the upgrade project Susan Humphris, who commented on the sub’s performance, and Nathan Brown, a pilot-in-training, who received the traditional dousing with ice-cold water for first-time Alvin divers. (Video by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Dive Day

Posted by Lonny Lippsett 
· Saturday, March 15th, 2014 
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Scientists and engineers boarded the research vessel Atlantis in New Orleans for the expedition to test the upgraded Alvin submersible. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
The ship departed New Orleans at 0830 hours to head down the Mississippi River. A convoy of freighters passes Atlantis's starboard side, going upriver. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
The voyage down the muddy Mississippi took nine hours passing industrial areas in the delta region. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Atlantis reached the Gulf of Mexico and the open ocean as the moon rose over the Gulf--a delightful setting for WHOI scientist Adam Soule to do a little strumming on his ukulele. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Moonlight bathed the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, though most people on board were too busy preparing for today's Alvin dive to notice. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Alvin Expedition Leader Bruce Strickrott (right) consults with scientists Susan Humphris, who will take on its first science dive, and Don Nuzzio of Advanced Instrument Systems. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Nearly 900 days since its last research dive—and the most extensive upgrade in its nearly 50-year history—the submersible Alvin is scheduled to return to the depths this morning on a science mission. Everyone on board the R/V Atlantis, from scientists to pilots to ship’s crew, is abuzz and eager to launch the new, improved sub. Read More →

Susan Humphris Presents the New Alvin

Posted by Chris Linder 
· Saturday, March 15th, 2014 

WHOI marine geochemist and head of the Alvin upgrade project discusses her upcoming dive in the newly upgraded Alvin on the eve of the sub’s first science mission since 2010. (Video by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Not your grandfather’s Cadillac

Posted by Lonny Lippsett 
· Thursday, March 13th, 2014 

Since its birth in 1964, the deep-sea research submersible Alvin has been brought in every few years for overhauls. Most were routine maintenance—the submarine equivalent of a 30,000-mile servicing on your car. Read More →

About

From March 14 to 26, Peter Girguis, chair of DESSC (DEep Submergence Science Committee), will lead a group of scientists, including many veteran Alvin divers, from a host of research institutions to “road-test” the new vehicle on an expedition in the Gulf of Mexico. More »

More about

HOV Alvin
Alvin Upgrade
Rebuilding Alvin from Oceanus magazine

Participating Organizations

National Science Foundation
Office of Naval Research
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
   Administration
University-National Oceanographic
   Laboratory System
National Deep Submergence Facility
DEep Submergence Science Committee
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Alvin Science Verification Cruise
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