WEBVTT 00:00:00.730 --> 00:00:04.208 David Biello: So Victor, what have you been up to? NOTE Paragraph 00:00:05.042 --> 00:00:07.684 Victor Vescovo: That's the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 00:00:07.708 --> 00:00:10.684 and I guess I read too much Jules Verne as a young boy, 00:00:10.708 --> 00:00:14.559 and so for the last four years I've led a team to design and build 00:00:14.583 --> 00:00:18.143 what is now the most advanced and deepest diving submersible on the planet, 00:00:18.167 --> 00:00:20.809 and I have the ability to personally pilot it too. 00:00:20.833 --> 00:00:23.101 So this was us in December of last year, 00:00:23.125 --> 00:00:25.768 for the first time -- the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:25.792 --> 00:00:27.726 DB: And nobody's seen that before right? NOTE Paragraph 00:00:27.750 --> 00:00:29.476 That's just you. VV: No. 00:00:29.500 --> 00:00:30.893 Well, now everybody else. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:30.917 --> 00:00:33.434 DB: Who does that? 00:00:33.458 --> 00:00:34.726 Like -- NOTE Paragraph 00:00:34.750 --> 00:00:38.476 VV: Well, I think everyone has seen the developments in the last 10, 15 years. 00:00:38.500 --> 00:00:41.893 You have a bunch of people that have the means to explore outer space, 00:00:41.917 --> 00:00:44.268 like SpaceX or Blue Origin -- 00:00:44.292 --> 00:00:45.559 those guys -- 00:00:45.583 --> 00:00:47.351 and we're going the other direction. 00:00:47.375 --> 00:00:48.643 So it's a wonderful era 00:00:48.667 --> 00:00:50.893 of private individuals spending their resources 00:00:50.917 --> 00:00:53.268 to develop technologies that can take us to places 00:00:53.292 --> 00:00:55.101 that have never been explored before, 00:00:55.125 --> 00:00:56.976 and the oceans of the world is -- 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.684 it's almost a cliché to say it's 70 percent of our entire planet, 00:01:00.708 --> 00:01:03.143 and of that, 95 percent is unexplored. 00:01:03.167 --> 00:01:05.476 So what we're trying to do with our expedition 00:01:05.500 --> 00:01:07.393 is to build and prove out a submersible 00:01:07.417 --> 00:01:10.101 that can go to any point on the bottom of the planet 00:01:10.125 --> 00:01:14.708 to explore the 60 percent of this planet that is still unexplored. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:15.208 --> 00:01:17.559 DB: You need a pretty cool tool to do that, right? NOTE Paragraph 00:01:17.583 --> 00:01:18.851 VV: Right. 00:01:18.875 --> 00:01:21.476 Now the tool is the submarine, the Limiting Factor. 00:01:21.500 --> 00:01:22.976 It's a state-of-the-art vessel 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:25.454 supported by the support ship, the Pressure Drop. 00:01:25.478 --> 00:01:28.268 It has a two-person titanium sphere, 90 millimeters-thick, 00:01:28.292 --> 00:01:29.893 that keeps it at one atmosphere, 00:01:29.917 --> 00:01:32.601 and it has the ability to dive repeatedly 00:01:32.625 --> 00:01:35.143 down to the very deepest point of the ocean. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:35.167 --> 00:01:39.351 DB: So like the SpaceX of ocean exploration? NOTE Paragraph 00:01:39.375 --> 00:01:41.976 VV: Yeah, it's kind of the SpaceX of ocean exploration, 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:43.684 but I pilot my own vehicles. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:43.708 --> 00:01:45.559 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:45.583 --> 00:01:48.726 DB: Are you going to take Elon or...? NOTE Paragraph 00:01:48.750 --> 00:01:50.809 VV: Yeah, I could take someone down there. 00:01:50.833 --> 00:01:52.309 So, Elon, if you're listening, 00:01:52.333 --> 00:01:55.184 I'll give you a ride in mine if you give me a ride in yours. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:55.208 --> 00:01:57.000 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:58.125 --> 00:02:00.851 DB: So tell us what it's like down there. 00:02:00.875 --> 00:02:04.268 I mean, we're talking about a place where the pressure is so intense 00:02:04.292 --> 00:02:06.726 that it's like putting an Eiffel Tower on your toe. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:06.750 --> 00:02:08.059 VV: It's more than that. 00:02:08.083 --> 00:02:09.518 It's about 16,000 psi. 00:02:09.542 --> 00:02:11.934 So the issue is that we have this titanium sphere 00:02:11.958 --> 00:02:14.393 that allows us to go down to these extreme depths 00:02:14.417 --> 00:02:16.059 and come up repeatedly. 00:02:16.083 --> 00:02:17.559 That's never been done before. 00:02:17.583 --> 00:02:19.643 The Challenger Deep has been dived twice, 00:02:19.667 --> 00:02:22.934 once in 1960 and once in 2012 by James Cameron, 00:02:22.958 --> 00:02:26.268 and they went down and came back up and those were experimental craft. 00:02:26.292 --> 00:02:28.768 This is the first commercially certified submersible 00:02:28.792 --> 00:02:32.018 that can go up and down thousands of times with two people, 00:02:32.042 --> 00:02:33.309 including a scientist. 00:02:33.333 --> 00:02:35.184 We're very proud that we took down 00:02:35.208 --> 00:02:37.393 the deepest-diving British citizen in history 00:02:37.417 --> 00:02:40.393 just three weeks ago, Dr. Alan Jamieson of Newcastle University 00:02:40.417 --> 00:02:43.018 who was down with us on the Java Trench. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:43.042 --> 00:02:47.934 DB: So, not too much freaks you out, is what I'm guessing. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:47.958 --> 00:02:50.059 VV: Well, it's a lot different to go diving. 00:02:50.083 --> 00:02:53.184 If you're claustrophobic, you do not want to be in the submarine. 00:02:53.208 --> 00:02:54.559 We go down quite a distance 00:02:54.583 --> 00:02:58.018 and the missions typically last eight to nine hours in a confined space. 00:02:58.042 --> 00:03:00.518 It's very different from the career I had previously 00:03:00.542 --> 00:03:03.184 which was mountain climbing where you're in open spaces, 00:03:03.208 --> 00:03:05.018 the wind is whipping, it's very cold. 00:03:05.042 --> 00:03:07.268 This is the opposite. It's much more technical. 00:03:07.292 --> 00:03:09.893 It's much more about precision in using the instruments 00:03:09.917 --> 00:03:12.143 and troubleshooting anything that can go wrong. 00:03:12.167 --> 00:03:14.726 But if something really goes wrong in the submersible, 00:03:14.750 --> 00:03:16.143 you're not going to know it. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:16.167 --> 00:03:17.476 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:03:17.500 --> 00:03:19.976 DB: So you're afraid of leaks is what you're saying. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.851 VV: Leaks are not good, but if it's a leak that's happening, 00:03:22.875 --> 00:03:25.059 it's not that bad because if it was really bad 00:03:25.083 --> 00:03:26.809 you wouldn't know it, again, but -- 00:03:26.833 --> 00:03:29.684 you know, fire in the capsule, that wouldn't be good either, 00:03:29.708 --> 00:03:31.768 but it's actually a very safe submersible. 00:03:31.792 --> 00:03:34.268 I like to say I don't trust a lot of things in life, 00:03:34.292 --> 00:03:36.101 but I do trust titanium, I trust math 00:03:36.125 --> 00:03:38.184 and I trust finite element analysis, 00:03:38.208 --> 00:03:39.518 which is how you figure out 00:03:39.542 --> 00:03:41.601 whether or not things like this can survive 00:03:41.625 --> 00:03:43.768 these extraordinary pressures and conditions. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:43.792 --> 00:03:46.934 DB: And that sphere is so perfectly machined, right? 00:03:46.958 --> 00:03:48.934 This is a truly unique craft. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:48.958 --> 00:03:50.434 VV: That was the real trick -- 00:03:50.458 --> 00:03:52.309 is actually building a titanium sphere 00:03:52.333 --> 00:03:55.476 that was accurate to within .1 percent of machine. 00:03:55.500 --> 00:03:57.059 Titanium is a hard metal to work 00:03:57.083 --> 00:03:59.143 and a lot of people haven't figured it out, 00:03:59.167 --> 00:04:00.518 but we were very fortunate. 00:04:00.542 --> 00:04:03.643 Our extraordinary team was able to make an almost perfect sphere, 00:04:03.667 --> 00:04:06.101 which when you're subjecting something to pressure, 00:04:06.125 --> 00:04:08.184 that's the strongest geometry you can have. 00:04:08.208 --> 00:04:10.601 When I'm in the submersible and that hatch closes, 00:04:10.625 --> 00:04:13.351 I'm confident that I'm going to go down and come back up. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:13.375 --> 00:04:15.476 DB: And that's the thing you double-check -- 00:04:15.500 --> 00:04:16.809 that the hatch is closed? NOTE Paragraph 00:04:16.833 --> 00:04:19.267 VV: There are only two rules in diving a submarine. 00:04:19.291 --> 00:04:21.184 Number one is close the hatch securely. 00:04:21.208 --> 00:04:23.184 Number two is go back to rule number one. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:23.208 --> 00:04:26.601 DB: Alright so, Atlantic Ocean: check. 00:04:26.625 --> 00:04:28.393 Southern Ocean: check. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:28.417 --> 00:04:30.893 VV: No one has ever dived the Southern Ocean before. 00:04:30.917 --> 00:04:32.226 I know why. 00:04:32.250 --> 00:04:33.643 It's really, really hostile. 00:04:33.667 --> 00:04:34.976 The weather is awful. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:37.226 The word collision comes to mind. 00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:39.101 But we did that one, yes. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:39.125 --> 00:04:40.643 Glad that's over -- DB: Yeah -- NOTE Paragraph 00:04:40.667 --> 00:04:42.018 VV: Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:42.042 --> 00:04:43.184 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:04:43.208 --> 00:04:45.101 DB: It's like you're racing through it. 00:04:45.125 --> 00:04:47.559 And now the Indian Ocean, as Kelly mentioned. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:47.583 --> 00:04:49.309 VV: Yeah, that was three weeks ago. 00:04:49.333 --> 00:04:51.934 We were fortunate enough to actually solve the mystery. 00:04:51.958 --> 00:04:53.893 If someone had asked me three weeks ago, 00:04:53.917 --> 00:04:56.351 "What is the deepest point in the Indian Ocean?" -- 00:04:56.375 --> 00:04:57.643 no one really knew. 00:04:57.667 --> 00:04:58.976 There were two candidates, 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:01.643 one off of Western Australia and one in the Java Trench. 00:05:01.667 --> 00:05:04.101 We have this wonderful ship with a brilliant sonar. 00:05:04.125 --> 00:05:05.393 We mapped both of them. 00:05:05.417 --> 00:05:07.684 We sent landers down to the bottom and verified. 00:05:07.708 --> 00:05:10.309 It's actually in the center portion of the Java Trench, 00:05:10.333 --> 00:05:12.143 which is where no one thought it was. 00:05:12.167 --> 00:05:14.976 In fact, every time we've completed one of our major dives, 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:17.143 we have to run off to Wikipedia and change it 00:05:17.167 --> 00:05:18.643 because it's completely wrong. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:18.667 --> 00:05:20.309 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:05:20.333 --> 00:05:23.393 DB: So it probably takes longer to get down there 00:05:23.417 --> 00:05:25.684 than the time you're able to spend down there? NOTE Paragraph 00:05:25.708 --> 00:05:28.601 VV: No, we actually spend quite a bit of time. 00:05:28.625 --> 00:05:31.476 I have four days of oxygen supply in the vessel. 00:05:31.500 --> 00:05:33.059 If I'm down there for four days, 00:05:33.083 --> 00:05:35.893 something's gone so wrong I'm probably not going to use it, 00:05:35.917 --> 00:05:38.976 but it's about three hours down to the deepest part of the ocean 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.309 and then we can spend usually three or four hours 00:05:41.333 --> 00:05:42.893 and then another three hours up. 00:05:42.917 --> 00:05:45.976 So you don't want to stay in there for more than 10 or 11 hours. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.309 It can get a little tight. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:47.333 --> 00:05:49.559 DB: Alright, so the bottom of the Indian Ocean. 00:05:49.583 --> 00:05:53.851 And this is something that no one besides you has ever seen before -- NOTE Paragraph 00:05:53.875 --> 00:05:57.893 VV: This is actually imagery from one of our robotic landers. 00:05:57.917 --> 00:06:00.851 On the bottom right you can actually see a robust assfish -- 00:06:00.875 --> 00:06:02.476 that's what it's actually called. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:03.518 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:06:03.542 --> 00:06:06.934 But you can see from the left a creature that's never been seen before. 00:06:06.958 --> 00:06:10.184 It's actually a bottom-dwelling jellyfish called a stalked ascidian, 00:06:10.208 --> 00:06:12.643 and none of them have ever looked like this before. 00:06:12.667 --> 00:06:15.393 It actually has a small child at the bottom of its stalk, 00:06:15.417 --> 00:06:17.559 and it just drifted across beautifully. 00:06:17.583 --> 00:06:20.059 So every single dive we have gone on, 00:06:20.083 --> 00:06:22.726 even though we're only down there for a couple of hours, 00:06:22.750 --> 00:06:24.643 we have found three or four new species 00:06:24.667 --> 00:06:27.976 because these are places that have been isolated for billions of years 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:31.351 and no human being has ever been down there to film them 00:06:31.375 --> 00:06:32.643 or take samples. 00:06:32.667 --> 00:06:34.518 And so this is extraordinary for us -- NOTE Paragraph 00:06:34.542 --> 00:06:36.893 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:06:36.917 --> 00:06:38.226 So what we are hoping -- 00:06:38.250 --> 00:06:41.601 the main objective of our mission is to build this tool. 00:06:41.625 --> 00:06:43.268 This tool is a door, 00:06:43.292 --> 00:06:44.601 because with this tool, 00:06:44.625 --> 00:06:46.809 we'll be able to make more of them potentially 00:06:46.833 --> 00:06:49.184 and take scientists down to do thousands of dives, 00:06:49.208 --> 00:06:51.434 to open that door to exploration 00:06:51.458 --> 00:06:54.518 and find things that we had no idea even existed. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:54.542 --> 00:06:59.434 DB: And so more people have been to space than the bottom of the ocean. 00:06:59.458 --> 00:07:01.101 You're one of three. 00:07:01.125 --> 00:07:04.018 You're going to up that number, you're going to give it away. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:04.042 --> 00:07:07.309 VV: Yeah, three people have dived to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. 00:07:07.333 --> 00:07:09.476 The USS Trieste in 1960 with two individuals. 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:12.018 James Cameron in 2012 with his Deep Sea Challenger -- 00:07:12.042 --> 00:07:13.601 thank you, Jim, great sub. 00:07:13.625 --> 00:07:15.476 This is a third-generation technology. 00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:18.476 We're not only going to try and go down, actually in two weeks, 00:07:18.500 --> 00:07:20.768 but we're going to try and do it multiple times, 00:07:20.792 --> 00:07:22.393 which has never been done before. 00:07:22.417 --> 00:07:24.851 If we can do that, we'll have proven the technology 00:07:24.875 --> 00:07:27.476 and that door will not just go open, it will stay open. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:30.768 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:07:30.792 --> 00:07:32.101 DB: Fantastic. Good luck. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:32.125 --> 00:07:33.976 VV: Thank you very much. DB: Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:35.268 VV: Thank you all. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:35.292 --> 00:07:37.833 (Applause)