Posted by Chris Linder

· Saturday, March 22nd, 2014

The upgraded Alvin added two new forward-looking viewports, and the sub’s two manipulator arms had to be adjusted so that they would not block the new views. The arms were given more flexibility at their shoulder joints so that they could swing farther out. A byproduct of that redesign is that the arms have extended their reach forward from 93 to 118 inches and expanded their coverage area from about 100 to 140 degrees.

Alvin pilots on this Science Verification Cruise are practicing working with Alvin‘s arms under field conditions on tasks they are routinely asked to perform, such as taking push cores to collect seafloor sediments and grabbing biological samples such as deep-sea clams. “After three years out of the water during the upgrade, it’s great to see the pilots get back into the swing of things,” said Chris German, chief scientist for the National Deep Submergence Facility at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. (Video courtesy of Peter Girguis, chief scientist, Harvard; Funding agencies: NSF, ONR, NOAA; ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Edited by Chris Linder, WHOI)

A Star(fish) is Born

Posted by Chris Linder

· Friday, March 21st, 2014

Chris German, chief scientist for the National Deep Submergence Facility at WHOI, talks about experiments going on to optimize Alvin‘s new lighting and camera systems during the Alvin Science Verification cruise. (Video courtesy of Peter Girguis, chief scientist, Harvard; Funding agencies: NSF, ONR, NOAA; ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Edited by Chris Linder, WHOI)

Tweaks and Troubleshooting

Posted by Lonny Lippsett

· Friday, March 21st, 2014

Peter Girguis, chief scientist of the Alvin Science Verification Cruise, stands before the sub during nighttime tests of the sub's lighting. Scientists and engineers are experimenting with adding and positioning lights to optimize Alvin's imaging capabilities. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

On Thursday, scientists on the Alvin Verification Cruise adjusted high-intensity LED lights on the sub’s “brow” and just above the forward viewports (not seen in this drawing) to perfect the lighting so they can obtain sharp, shadow- and glare-free photos and videos from the sub. (Illustration by E. Paul Oberlander, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

The whole objective of this research cruise is to test a newly rebuilt Alvin equipped with upgraded systems that had never been used before by scientists under field conditions. Scientists and engineers expected hiccups and learning curves. After four test dives of Alvin, it was time to tweak, troubleshoot, and optimize. Read More →

Riding in Style

Posted by Lonny Lippsett

· Thursday, March 20th, 2014

The A-frame at the stern of the research vessel Atlantis positions Alvin to be lowered into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday morning. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Atlantis chief mate Peter Leonard leaps off Alvin carrying a safety line back to a small boat dispatched from Atlantis. Leonard and Shipboard Scientific Services Group technician Allison Heater were Wednesday's "swimmers," who play important roles in launching and recovering the sub. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

SSSG technician Allison Heater swims back to Atlantis' small boat after assisting in Wednesday's launch. She holds a sound-phone used to talk with Alvin's pilot inside the sealed personnel sphere, keeping it above water so it won't get wet. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Able-bodied seaman Raul Martinez swims toward Alvin during Wednesday's recovery. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Ordinary seaman Ronnie Whims drives the small boat with able-bodied seaman Patrick Neumann aboard to retrieve the line to secure the sub to Atlantis. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Amanda Demopoulos, a biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, and University of Delaware chemist George Luther were the scientists who dove in Alvin Wednesday with Pilot Bob Waters. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

George Luther (left) of the University of Delaware and Don Nuzzio of Analytical Instrument Systems prepare their instrument on Alvin's payload basket the evening before a dive. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Expedition chief scientist Peter Girguis and Jennifer Delaney of Harvard University extract the viscera of a deep-sea clam collected by Alvin Wednesday. A preserved sample will be sent to the Ocean Genome Legacy, which aims to archive the DNA of every marine species and make the data available to scientists. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Two more veteran deep-sea scientists took their turn Wednesday to test-drive the upgraded Alvin. They came on this expedition to assess the sub’s new capabilities, find faults to be fixed, and report to their scientific peers. In a way, they were perfectly willing human guinea pigs. As much as they were testing Alvin, the sub was being tested on them. Read More →

A Triptych of Seafloor Oases

Posted by Jeffrey Marlow

· Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

On a 1979 return trip by scientists to the Galapagos Rift (this time including biologists), Alvin explored unexpected oases of life on the seafloor. Here, Alvin’s meter-long temperature probe extends toward a community of galatheid crabs perched atop pillow lava and a dense field of mussels. (Photo by Robert Hessler)

As the new and improved Alvin gets its sea legs, starting a new chapter of oceanographic discovery, many of us are looking back on the sub’s 50 years of exploration. As a geobiologist intrigued by the limits of life, many Alvin-supported discoveries have shaped my field, but three in particular stand out: the triptych of seafloor oases. Read More →

No Plug-and-play on the Seafloor

Posted by Lonny Lippsett

· Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

Alvin deployed an instrument nicknamed the "six-shooter" that samples water every six hours to look for chemical changes caused by the tidal cycle. (Photo courtesy of Peter Girguis, chief scientist, Harvard University; Funding agencies: NSF, ONR, and NOAA; ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

The team from the University of Minnesota shows off its self-calibrating deep-sea instruments, nicknamed "Ghostbusters," which measure pH and temperature and detect chemical indications of life on the seafloor. From left, Kang Ding, Shinjun Wu, and Tan Chunyang. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

WHOI scientist Chris German snapped this photo of a crab scuttling across the seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico while testing Alvin's downward-looking camera system on Monday. (Photo courtesy of Peter Girguis, chief scientist, Harvard University; Funding agencies: NSF, ONR, and NOAA; ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, R/V Atlantis bosun Patrick Hennessy prepares to launch a deep-sea camera prepared by WHOI's Multidisciplinary Instrumentation in Support of Oceanography (MISO) Facility. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Alvin dove Tuesday with veteran pilot Mike Skowronski and two pilots-in-training, Jefferson Grau and Phil Santos, who tested the rebuilt sub's new propulsion system. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Phil Santos, a pilot-in-training (PIT), receives the traditional baptism of ice-cold water following his first dive in Alvin by fellow PITs Chris Lathan, left, and Nathan Brown. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

After a decade of planning, designing, engineering, and construction, an upgraded Alvin has been delivered to the nation’s scientific community.

“So then what? What do you do? Brand-new submarine, fresh off the lot,” said Peter Girguis, chair of the Deep Submergence Science Committee (DESSC), a group of scientists that advises on the best use and operations of the sub. Read More →

The Road to Alvin‘s Road Test

Posted by Chris Linder

· Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

[vimeo 89494013 w=1000 h=562]

A conversation with Peter Girguis, chair of the Deep Submergence Science Committee (DESSC), and Chris German, chief scientist for the National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF) at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

After a major rebuild of the nation’s only deep-sea research submarine, leaders of the upgrade project made an unconventional decision—organize an expedition of veteran Alvin users from many research fields and institutions to test the new sub and help its transition back into service for the nation’s scientific community. (Produced by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

We’ve Got a Good Sub

Posted by Lonny Lippsett

· Tuesday, March 18th, 2014

Swimmers Raul Martinez (front) and Mike Skowronski battled rough seas while attaching the lift line to Alvin during recovery to the research vessel Atlantis Monday. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Engineer Rick Sanger of the Alvin Operations Group waits for scientists and pilot to emerge after Monday’s dive in the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Back on deck after his dive to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist Chris German is surrounded by eager scientists (and one journalist) as he describes what he saw and how the sub performed. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Alvin Pilot Bruce Strickrott grabs a cup of coffee after his dive Monday and discusses how it went with the expedition’s chief scientist, Peter Girguis of Harvard University. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Alvin pilot Bruce Strickrott tested the the sub's newly reconfigured manipulator arms by collecting a rock for California Institute of Technology graduate student Jeff Marlow, who split it open to find it full of organisms. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Tan Chunyang, an engineer from the University of Minnesota, was all smiles as he retrieved his lab’s instrument, which was successfully used on Monday’s Alvin dive. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Shortly after Monday’s dive, Alvin pilot Bob Waters was already hard at work preparing the sub for the next dive. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

University of Delaware scientist George Luther (back) and UD graduate student Dan Macdonald prepare an instrument from their lab for Tuesday's dive. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

You’ve been driving the same car for two decades, then somebody hands you the keys to a 2014 version of the same model. The brand-new car has automatic controls you’ve never seen before, a stiffer ride that takes the curves tighter, and a larger interior that’s more comfortable, but still takes some getting used to. That’s what it’s like in the new Alvin.

Alvin Science Verification Cruise

Alvin’s Arm Exercises

A Star(fish) is Born

Tweaks and Troubleshooting

Riding in Style

A Triptych of Seafloor Oases

No Plug-and-play on the Seafloor

The Road to Alvin‘s Road Test

We’ve Got a Good Sub

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