From Spacecrafts to Submarines

My career in the commercial spaceflight industry has long afforded meaningful intersections with the broader exploration community. Organizations like The Explorers Club have helped to connect like-minded explorers, where two camps inevitably arise: space vs. sea.

While the space community extols the enormity of the unexplored universe, it is not uncommon for oceanic lectures to begin with a comment about more people have walked on the Moon than have reached the deepest point in the sea, or how we know far more about the surface of the Moon than the ocean floor. To the those who suggest space is the Final Frontier, submarine designer Graham Hawkes goes as far as to offer his infamous advice: “your rockets are pointed in the wrong goddamn direction!”

Admittedly, I’ve spent more time following Hawking than Hawkes. I’ve spent the past few years working to advance mankind’s footprint in the solar system, puzzling over the particulars of interplanetary life. I’ve worked alongside industry, academia, and government organizations in the pursuit of space exploration, and I’ve spent weeks at a time in isolation at a prototype Martian research facility, studying in situ resource utilization techniques in the hopes of advancing mankind’s ability to live off-Earth. Beyond the inherent desire to explore space myself, my dedication has always been rooted in the simple fact that Earth will one day cease to support life, and that a future without space exploration is no future at all.

Still, I have always rejected the either/or approach to exploration. As an experienced scuba diver, I’ve always been intrigued by the mysteries of Earth’s vast oceans—an anomaly within our known universe. From hostile environments to extreme lifeforms, it seems evident that dividends from the exploration of both sea and space are critical to our advancement and ultimate survival as a species. So earlier this summer when Blue Marble Exploration founder, Guillermo Söhnlein, invited me to participate in an expedition on board OceanGate’s Antipodes submersible, I jumped at the opportunity.

Stockton Rush—OceanGate's founder, CEO, and sub pilot—utilized advanced sonar to navigate Antipodes in the murky visibility of the ocean floor, allowing our group to explore the remains of the Al-Ind-Esk-A-Sea, a 336-foot fish processing ship that caught fire and burned for several days before sinking off the coast of Seattle in 1982. While I was prepared for the advanced technology that enabled our navigation, I was wholly unprepared for the thrill of submerging hundreds of feet to the ocean floor. Light from the surface dimmed as we descended, and bioluminescent creatures came to life in its absence. Staring out at the alien environment ahead of me, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the same overwhelming sensation experienced by astronauts upon their first glance through the cupola of the International Space Station.

Intellectually, I appreciated the diversity of our planet. But having the opportunity to explore the ocean floor drove home the magnificent uniqueness of Earth within our universe, and how little we truly know about the “blue marble” we call home. The tenacity of life to flourish at those dark depths, and the potential of what we might find even deeper, reminds me how lucky we are to call this planet home, and how much we still have to explore, both on Earth and beyond.

While I remain an evangelist for space exploration, I have a newfound passion for exploring the sea. In 2016, I’ll be joining Blue Marble Exploration on the world’s first crewed submersible expedition to the bottom of Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas, an exploration event which will be broadcast live around the world.

While I’m fond of proclaiming that this is the first time in four billion years that it’s possible for life to become interplanetary, I now realize that this is also the first time in four billion years that we have the knowledge and know-how to study the unique features of our own planet. Blue Marble Exploration will offer a path to take advantage of this unique window in history, and I feel privileged to join the mission.

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Contributed by Kellie Gerardi Emerging Explorer Blue Marble Exploration New York, NY, USA

Researching, Filmmaking, Exploring? There's a Sub for That!

In a vast ocean, the number of manned vehicles operating beneath the surface is very limited. Through my most recent expeditions funded by a National Geographic Young Explorer grant, I’ve learned that differences between subs allow each to serve as an ideal platform for research, exploration or filmmaking. These submersibles must conform to rigorous standards if they are to hold up against the varying temperatures and harsh pressures of the sea. Though all subs share the same few critical components including a pressure sphere (the cabin), life support systems, lights, and thrusters, each sub has unique characteristics and individualized operations. In a world of salt water, this keeps things fresh. Researching, filmmaking or collecting samples? There's a submersible for that!

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Antipodes -- Seattle, Washington, USA

In a five-person sub smaller than a minivan, you might not expect any more legroom than an airplane, but the submersible Antipodes is surprisingly spacious. This 305 meter-capable sub, operated by OceanGate, Inc, shares the same critical specifications as similar vessels, but has something no other sub can boast: twin hemispherical domes. When you are submerged for many hours, they serve two valuable purposes: visibility and comfort.

Crewmembers sit on opposing benches deep in the domes, surrounded on three sides by the ocean. Only an IMAX experience evokes a similar sensation of total immersion. Whether flying over a sweeping landscape or in close quarters with a shipwreck, the pilot can simply rotate the sub to achieve a better view. Antipodes is by far the most comfortable sub I have been in, with plenty of overhead space and legroom, allowing more researchers, cameras and crew to collaborate on a dive.

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CuraSub -- Curacao, The Caribbean

While similarly allowing five people to dive to the deep, CuraSub differs in operations and onboard science equipment. A custom-built private marina houses the sub, its support boat, and workshop, and makes diving almost as efficient as going for a swim. The insightful designer of SubStation Curacao developed a floating dock that hugs the sub and not only allows for the easy transfer of crew, but also has an extra safety net built in. Below the surface, a platform underneath the sub ensures that if any water were to accidentally splash into the sub, the sub would still be supported from below and would remain safe and sound on the surface.

While the efficiency of dives is one clear benefit, the science equipment the CuraSub carries makes it a workhorse for underwater research. As a research platform, the sub is outfitted with two manipulator arms and various external cameras. One of the manipulators doubles as a fish sampling device complete with a water-soluble fish anesthetic to collect animals without harming them. Though CuraSub is typically operated from one location, the local area is so vast there is a continuous stream of both geological and biological discoveries.

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Idabel -- Roatan, Honduras

Outside the realm of traditional subs is the painstakingly homebuilt submersible Idabel. My dive in Idabel took me deeper than I’d ever been before, to the bathyal zone. Far below the photic zone where sunlight hits, the bathyal zone ranges from about 500 meters to 6000 meters and is home to creatures that never ascend into the daylight. Many of these creatures are wildly abundant, but they are so unfamiliar to our terrestrial lives that they become fascinating and bizarre. The biology of the deep ocean is one of the most glamorous and exciting worlds and Idabel is particularly suited to facilitating high quality photography and filming of deep sea organisms. The front of the sub even has protective bumpers, allowing the pilot to press right up against a rock wall and pick up a sample or go for a close-up with a camera illuminated by the many lights installed on the sub.

The rarity of diving this deep, and knowing I was still scratching the surface of the ocean, made Idabel my most extraordinary dive so far. I always knew I wanted to go into the deep ocean, but I never realized how dramatically it would change my goals for diving in the extraordinary world below us. Idabel can reach the black and quiet world of the deep sea, Antipodes is the perfect platform for underwater collaboration between many dive participants and CuraSub is outfitted for the safe and efficient collection of samples and data. With every dive on a submersible, you know you’ll be getting a million-dollar view, but it’s the differences between subs that make them uniquely valuable.

Photo credits: Barry Brown (First photo), OceanGate,Inc. (Antipodes photo), Erika Bergman (all other photos)

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Contributed by Erika Bergman Emerging Explorer Blue Marble Exploration Seattle, WA USA

Emerging Explorer: Erika Bergman

As a lifelong storyteller turned manned submersible pilot, Erika Bergman is inspiring a new generation of ocean explorers as a Blue Marble Exploration Emerging Explorer.

After studying chemical oceanography at the University of Washington, Erika worked as a diesel engineer aboard the tall ship S/V Lady Washington and as a steam ship engineer aboard the S/S Virginia V. Most recently, as a submersible pilot and engineer, Erika completed exploration, research and filmmaking sub dives in Washington, California, and Florida with OceanGate and ExploreOcean. An avid SCUBA and free diver, she spends most of her time underwater working with tools or behind the lens of her video camera.

Earlier this year, Erika was named a National Geographic Young Explorer and is thrilled to share manned submersible dives and discoveries with educators and students. Erika hopes to inspire enthusiasm for ocean awareness using direct observation and storytelling to make ocean concepts more familiar for a global audience.


Follow Erika's Expeditions

This week, August 19-25, Erika is embarking on her first expedition funded by a National Geographic Young Explorer grant, sponsored by Blue Marble Exploration. The first of two expeditions to explore deep reef corals in the Caribbean Sea, Erika will be diving along the southwestern shore of Curacao in the Curasub manned submersible.

Bringing the deep sea to the classroom, Erika will be hosting live Google+ Hangouts with educators and students and answering questions on Twitter @erika_bergman.

Expedition updates will also be posted to her blog, Deep Blue From Below and National Geographic's Explorer's Journal. Follow along as Erika explores the deep reefs of Curacao!