DeepFlight Challenger

DeepFlight Challenger is a one-person submersible built with the intention of reaching the Challenger Deep. Utilizing DeepFlight technology from Hawkes Ocean Technologies. The submersible is owned by Virgin Oceanic.

History

The submersible was designed by Graham Hawkes and Hawkes Ocean Technologies (HOT). It was originally ordered by Steve Fossett for an attempt on the Challenger Deep, to become the first solo dive there.[1][2] Planning for the submersible started in 2000.[3] It was put on the ordersheet in 2005, with a depth capability of 11,000 metres (37,000 ft).[3][4] The craft was named Challenger by Fossett after the Challenger Deep.[4] At the time of the order, this would have doubled the depth that a single-place sub would be capable of going.[4] It was to have been a "secret project" of Fossett's to be the first to solo the Challenger Deep, and was secret at the time of his death in 2007.[3][5] The project was put on hold when Fossett died, and locked up in a warehouse at Hawkes Ocean Technologies, by the then owners, Fossett's estate,[2] but was later revived when Chris Welsh of Deep Sub LLC bought the unfinished sub and restarted the program in 2010. Welsh had purchased the sub and the yacht Cheyenne from the Fossett estate for around $1 million. Virgin Oceanic came in as sponsors a year later in 2011.[6][7][8] At the time of Fossett's death, the sub had been almost finished,[2][9] only four weeks from dive tests[10] and delivery.[11] This sub is the first deep-diving sub to be constructed with a pressure hull (central tube portion) of carbon fibre composite, built by Spencer Composites for HOT. Its carbon fiber design would later influence the tube for the sub Titan,[12] which is believed to have imploded due to the carbon fiber hull failing.[13]

Design

The submersible uses composite technology to create a lightweight sub with great depth capabilities. The viewdome is made from quartz, while the rest of the pressure hull uses carbon/epoxy composites. The interface between dome and hull is by bonded titanium rings. The sub has a 24-hour endurance, 3 knots (5.6 km/h) bottom speed, and 110 m/min (350 ft/min) dive rate.[1][10][14] Without ballast attached, the sub is positively buoyant, it uses syntactic foam for buoyancy. The submersible does not have a temperature control system for the cabin, so interior temperature eventually falls to water temperature.[3][15] The sub weighs 3,600 kilograms (8,000 lb), and does not need a dedicated mothership.[2][4] It has a 15-nautical-mile (28 km) range, 6 knots (11 km/h) maximum speed, and 3-axis freedom of motion. It uses LED lighting instead of arc lights, and has laser "feeler" beams to aid navigation.[4] The sub can dive to the bottom of the ocean and get back to the surface in 5 hours.[16] The design drew from DeepFlight II, another Hawkes Ocean Technologies full depth submersible.[17] The pressure hull is rated to withstand 140 MPa (20,000 psi) (more than the 110 MPa (16,000 psi) at the bottom of the Mariana Trench).[2] The sub is smaller than James Cameron's Deepsea Challenger.[18] Challenger represents the third generation of DeepFlight technology, one generation behind the DeepFlight Super Falcon.[19]

Test program
May 2007
Penn State Applied Research Laboratory Building; Pressure test of the pressure hull to Mariana Trench like pressures. Passed test, except for a crack in the viewdome due to a manufacturing defect.[3]
November 2007
cancelled tests, in the wake of Steve Fossett's death.[10]
February 2012
Alameda Naval Air Station (Oakland, California, US); Ballast system was tested. Submerged battery and engine testing, while crewed.[20]

Dive program

Five Dives project
See also: Virgin Oceanic § Five Dives project

Richard Branson and Chris Welsh of Virgin Oceanic planned on using DeepFlight Challenger to reach the deepest point of each of the world's five oceans, the Mariana Trench of the Pacific Ocean (11,034 m or 36,201 ft), the Puerto Rico Trench of the Atlantic Ocean (8,605 m or 28,232 ft), the Diamantina Trench of the Indian Ocean (8,047 m or 26,401 ft), South Sandwich Trench of the Southern Ocean (7,235 m or 23,737 ft), and Molloy Deep of the Arctic Ocean (5,608 m or 18,399 ft).[10][21][22] The Cheyenne yacht was to have been used as the mothership for the dive efforts.[23]

It was planned that Branson would pilot the sub to the Puerto Rico Trench, while Chris Welsh would pilot it for the Mariana Trench dive.[21] Virgin Oceanic had hoped to be the first team to solo to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and first team to return to the Challenger Deep since the Bathyscaphe Trieste, the first submersible to dive to the Challenger Deep, left, however, James Cameron's Deepsea Challenge project beat them to it in March 2012.[18] There has been an undeclared race on to return to the Challenger Deep between four teams, Cameron's, Virgin Oceanic's, Google-Schmidt/DOER's, and Triton submersibles'.[24] The attempt on Challenger Deep had been announced in April 2011.[19]

Based on testing at high pressure, the DeepFlight Challenger was determined to be suitable only for a single dive, not the repeated uses that had been planned as part of Virgin Oceanic service. As such, in 2014, Virgin Oceanic scrapped plans for the five dives project using the DeepFlight Challenger, as originally conceived, putting plans on hold until more suitable technologies are developed.[25]

Similar efforts

As of February 2012, several other vehicles are under development to reach the same depths. The groups developing them include:[26]

References
  1. Virgin Oceanic, Sub Archived August 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (accessed 27 March 2012)
  2. CNet News, Steve Fossett's unfinished legacy: Deepest ocean exploration, Daniel Terdiman, 3 October 2008 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  3. New York Times, "The Challenger’s Deep-Sea Brethren", Andy Isaacson, 27 March 2012 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  4. Hawkes Ocean Technologies, Infosheet DeepFlight Challenger Archived 2012-03-15 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 27 March 2012)
  5. KGO-TV ABC 7, "Fossett's secret project was built in Richmond" Archived 2013-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, Thursday 2 October 2008 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  6. Boing Boing, "Richard Branson launches Virgin Oceanic: deep-sea exploring submarines", Xeni Jardin, 5 April 2011 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  7. Los Angeles Times, "With spaceships and airplanes under his belt, Richard Branson turns to submarines", Mike Reicher and Kurt Streeter, 6 April 2011 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  8. Virgin Oceanic, Operations Team Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 27 March 2012)
  9. San Francisco Chronicle, "Winged sub almost ready to go very deep", Tom Stienstra, 12 October 2008 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  10. CBS News, "With Virgin Oceanic, Branson wants to go deep, really deep", 5 April 2011 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  11. CNN, "Super-light sub has 'capability greater than U.S. Navy'", Mairi Mackay, 11 September 2009 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  12. Jeff Sloan (10 May 2017). "Composite submersibles: Under pressure in deep, deep waters". Composites World.
  13. "Simulation Reveals Exactly How Titan Submersible Imploded". Engineering.com. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  14. Composites World, "Deepsea submersible incorporates composite pressure capsule", Sara Black, 31 August 2010 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  15. Virgin Oceanic, Branson Answers Kids Questions Archived 2012-03-13 at the Wayback Machine, 2012 Jan 19 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  16. Hawkes Ocean Technologies, DeepFlight Challenger Archived 2010-06-17 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 27 March 2012)
  17. Hawkes Ocean Technologies, Ocean Everest Archived 2012-03-15 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 27 March 2012)
  18. CNet News, "Cameron and Branson race to bring urgent attention to oceans", Daniel Terdiman, 26 March 2012 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  19. Popular Mechanics, "Q&A With Graham Hawkes, the Man Who Built the Deep Flight Challenger Submersible", Sarah Fecht, 8 April 2011 (accessed 4/4/2012)
  20. Virgin Oceanic, Testing the Sub Archived 2012-03-13 at the Wayback Machine, 2012 Feb 21 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  21. CNet News, With Virgin Oceanic, Branson plans to get deep, Daniel Terdiman, 5 April 2011 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  22. CNet News, "DeepFlight Challenger", 5 April 2011 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  23. The Register, "Richard Branson to prowl oceans' hadal depths in flying sub", Lester Haines, 6 April 2011 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  24. Macleans' Magazine, "James Cameron’s giant dive for mankind", Kate Lunau, 22 March 2012 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  25. Mendick, Robert; Nicholls, Dominic (13 Dec 2014). "Sir Richard Branson quietly shelves Virgin submarine plan". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  26. BBC News, "Race to the bottom of the ocean", 22 February 2012 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  27. National Geographic, "James Cameron Completes Record-Breaking Mariana Trench Dive", Ker Than, 25 March 2012 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  28. BBC News, "Race to the bottom of the ocean: Cameron", 8 March 2012 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  29. Triton Submarines, "Triton 36,000 Full Ocean Depth Submersible" Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 27 March 2012)
  30. BBC News, "Race to the bottom of the ocean: Triton", 22 February 2012 (accessed 27 March 2012)
  31. DOER Marine, "Deep Search" (accessed 27 March 2012)
  32. BBC News, "Race to the bottom of the ocean: DOER", 22 February 2012 (accessed 27 March 2012)

Further reading
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