"Lost City" Explored Using High-Speed NetworksUndersea exploration is now as close as the

"Lost City" Explored Using High-Speed Networks

Undersea exploration is now as close as the nearest computer. "Telepresence" (远程呈现) technology lets scientists -- and the public -- join expeditions without leaving dry land.

A just completed expedition to the Lost City, an unusual undersea vent formation in the Atlantic Ocean, showcased the technology. The project used a network of satellites and high-speed Internet access to connect participants across many miles of land and sea.

During the expedition undersea explorer Robert Ballard and the crew aboard the National Ocean ic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research ship Ronald H. Brown were anchored above the Lost City site. Meanwhile co-chief scientist Debbie Kelley and her colleagues were some 4,500 miles (7,250 kilometers) away on the University of Washington campus in Seattle.

At launch on July 17 Ballard described the project as a "precedent-setting ocean expedition that raises the bar on use of communications technology."

"Normally on a deep-ocean expedition, I talk with the mission's chief scientist across a table on the research vessel," he said. "In this case we talk across the planet."

Ballard's Institute for Exploration (IFE) in Mystic, Connecticut, supplied its veteran robotic vehicles, Hercules and Argus, to do the diving. The robots sent high-resolution images taken some 2,100 feet (700 meters) below the surface to the Ronald H. Brown.

The images were transferred via satellite from the ship to receivers at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. They were then sent across country to the team at the University of Washington.

All told, data from the Lost City travelled nearly 5,000 miles (8,050 kilometers) in less than two seconds. Technology Boosts "Crew" Size, Expertise

Real-time deep-sea images have been beamed around the globe before. Ballard, who discovered the undersea wreck of the Titanic in 1985 ,returned to the site in 2004 and sent images to scientists at the University of Rhode Island.

But this time the lead scicentists directing the expedition's research operations joined the dive virtually.

"We had a team of engineers and pilots who controlled the remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and were taking instructions at all times from the University of Washington (science team)," Dwight Coleman said. Coleman is a professor of marine science at the University of Rhode Island and a colleague of Ballard's at IFE.

Only so many people can live aboard a research ship. And although a large vessel may accommodate a science party of 30, half must be engineers who maintain and operate the ROVs.

The number of researchers is thus limited by ship space, as well as by scheduling, budgets, and other real-world concerns. Telepresence provides an intriguing(令人好奇的) solution.

"When you're doing exploration, you're never sure what expertise you'll need, because you're never sure what you'll find," Coleman said. "This technology provides the capability to network in experts on a specific subject from around the world. You can invite everybody aboard the ship."

The technology seems to have a bright future. NOAA is converting a former U. S. Navy vessel, the U. S. N. S. Capable, into a research vessel dubbed the Okeanos Explorer (okeanos is the ancient Greek term for "ocean" ). The ship will be specially outfitted for future telepresence missions.

Of course, telepresence technology isn't exactly like being at sea.

In her online expedition log, co-chief scientist Deborah Kelley described the nearly surreal scene as Hercules first touched bottom. Kelley and her science team watched the action via cameras carried by. Argus, hovering some 100 feet (30 meters) above the seafloor.

"This was a view like no other I ha

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