0:00:00.950,0:00:04.085
David Bello: So Victor,[br]what have you been up to?

0:00:05.464,0:00:07.660
Victor Vescovo: That's the bottom[br]of the Atlantic Ocean,

0:00:07.660,0:00:10.692
and I guess I read too much[br]Jules Verne as a young boy,

0:00:10.692,0:00:14.700
and so for the last four years[br]I've led a team to design and build

0:00:14.700,0:00:15.898
what is now the most advanced

0:00:15.898,0:00:17.947
and deepest diving[br]submersible on the planet.

0:00:18.334,0:00:20.861
And I have the ability[br]to personally pilot it too.

0:00:21.200,0:00:23.383
So this was us in December of last year

0:00:23.383,0:00:24.385
for the first time --

0:00:24.385,0:00:25.743
the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

0:00:26.212,0:00:27.805
DB: And nobody's seen that before right?

0:00:28.021,0:00:28.753
That's just you.

0:00:28.954,0:00:29.866
VV: No --

0:00:29.866,0:00:31.103
well, now everybody else.

0:00:32.062,0:00:33.204
DB: Who does that?

0:00:33.720,0:00:34.885
Like --

0:00:34.885,0:00:38.950
VV: Well, I think everyone has seen[br]all the developments the last 10-15 years,

0:00:39.163,0:00:42.205
you have a bunch of people that have[br]the means to explore outer space,

0:00:42.205,0:00:44.466
like SpaceX or Blue Origin --

0:00:44.466,0:00:45.079
those guys --

0:00:45.079,0:00:46.614
and we're going in the other direction.

0:00:46.759,0:00:48.026
So it's a wonderful era

0:00:48.026,0:00:50.403
of private individuals[br]spending their resources

0:00:50.403,0:00:53.039
to develop technologies[br]that can take us to places

0:00:53.039,0:00:54.709
that have never been explored before,

0:00:54.922,0:00:57.218
and the oceans of the world is --

0:00:57.218,0:00:58.340
it's almost a cliché to say --

0:00:58.340,0:01:00.938
70 percent of our entire planet,

0:01:00.938,0:01:02.907
and of that, 95 percent is unexplored.

0:01:03.274,0:01:05.636
So what we're trying to[br]with our expedition

0:01:05.636,0:01:08.436
is to build and [prove] out a submersible

0:01:08.436,0:01:10.740
that can go to any point[br]on the bottom of the planet

0:01:10.740,0:01:14.373
to explore the 60 percent of this planet[br]that is still unexplored.

0:01:15.572,0:01:17.659
DB: You need a pretty cool tool[br]to do that, right?

0:01:17.892,0:01:18.863
VV: Right.

0:01:18.863,0:01:21.555
Now the tool is the submarine[br]Limiting Factor.

0:01:21.555,0:01:24.735
It's a state-of-the-art vessel[br]support by the support ship,

0:01:24.735,0:01:25.963
the Pressure Drop.

0:01:25.963,0:01:27.774
It has a two-person titanium sphere,

0:01:27.774,0:01:28.823
90 milimeters-thick,

0:01:28.823,0:01:30.128
that keeps it at one atmosphere

0:01:30.128,0:01:32.812
and it has the ability to dive repeatedly

0:01:32.812,0:01:34.950
down to the very deepest[br]point of the ocean.

0:01:35.431,0:01:39.305
DB: So like the SpaceX[br]of ocean exploration?

0:01:39.580,0:01:41.484
VV: Yeah, it's kind of the SpaceX[br]of ocean exploration,

0:01:41.484,0:01:43.035
but I pilot my own vehicles.

0:01:44.233,0:01:45.873
(Laughter)

0:01:46.070,0:01:48.056
VV: You're going to take Elon or ... ?

0:01:48.958,0:01:50.438
VV: Yeah, I could take someone down there.

0:01:50.770,0:01:52.649
So, Elon, I don't if you're listening,

0:01:52.649,0:01:53.706
I'll give you a ride in mine[br]if you give me a ride in yours.

0:01:55.610,0:01:57.440
(Laughter)

0:01:58.336,0:02:00.949
DB: So tell us what it's like down there.

0:02:01.183,0:02:04.395
I mean, we're talking about a place[br]where the pressure is so intense

0:02:04.395,0:02:06.915
that it's like putting[br]the Eiffel Tower on your toe.

0:02:07.132,0:02:08.121
VV: It's more than that.

0:02:08.121,0:02:09.296
It's about 16,000 psi.

0:02:09.833,0:02:12.328
So the issue is we have[br]this titanium sphere

0:02:12.328,0:02:14.702
that allows us to go down[br]to these extreme depths

0:02:14.702,0:02:15.830
and come up repeatedly.

0:02:16.317,0:02:17.358
That's never been done before.

0:02:17.619,0:02:19.913
The Challenger Deep has been dived twice,

0:02:19.913,0:02:23.267
once in 1960 and once in 2012[br]by James Cameron,

0:02:23.267,0:02:24.887
and they went down and came back up

0:02:24.887,0:02:26.145
and those were experimental craft.

0:02:26.402,0:02:28.668
This is the first commercially[br]certified submersible.

0:02:28.868,0:02:32.285
It can go up and down[br]thousands of times with two people,

0:02:32.285,0:02:33.334
including a scientist.

0:02:33.492,0:02:34.432
And we're very proud

0:02:34.432,0:02:37.318
that we just took down the deepest-diving[br]British citizen in history

0:02:37.318,0:02:38.371
just three weeks ago,

0:02:38.371,0:02:40.509
Dr. Alan Jamieson of Newcastle University

0:02:40.509,0:02:42.586
who was down with us on the Java Trench.

0:02:43.648,0:02:47.455
DB: So not too much freaks you out[br]is what I'm guessing.

0:02:48.140,0:02:50.100
VV: Well, it's a lot[br]different to go diving.

0:02:50.372,0:02:52.747
If you're claustrophobic you do not[br]want to be in the submarine.

0:02:53.558,0:02:54.616
We go down quite a distance

0:02:54.616,0:02:57.502
and the missions typically last[br]eight to nine hours in a confined space.

0:02:57.758,0:02:59.836
So it's very different to the career[br]I had previous to this,

0:02:59.836,0:03:00.903
which was mountain climbing,

0:03:00.903,0:03:02.779
where you're in large, open spaces,

0:03:02.779,0:03:03.649
the wind is whipping,

0:03:03.649,0:03:04.859
it's very, very cold.

0:03:04.859,0:03:06.216
This is the opposite.

0:03:06.216,0:03:07.423
It's much more technical.

0:03:07.423,0:03:09.966
It's much more about precision[br]and using the instruments

0:03:09.966,0:03:11.619
and troubleshooting anything[br]that can go wrong.

0:03:11.955,0:03:13.666
But actually if something[br]really goes wrong in the submersible,

0:03:13.666,0:03:15.234
you're not going to know it.

0:03:15.736,0:03:17.385
(Laughter)

0:03:17.669,0:03:19.697
DB: So you're afraid of leaks[br]is what you're saying.

0:03:19.895,0:03:21.392
VV: Yeah, leaks are not good,

0:03:21.847,0:03:23.173
but if it's a leak that's happening,

0:03:23.173,0:03:24.025
well at least it's not that bad

0:03:24.025,0:03:25.254
because if it was really bad[br]you wouldn't know it --

0:03:25.254,0:03:26.805
again, but --

0:03:26.805,0:03:28.197
(Laughter)

0:03:28.197,0:03:29.469
You know, fire in the capsule,

0:03:29.469,0:03:30.054
that wouldn't be good either,

0:03:30.054,0:03:32.231
but no, it's actually a very,[br]very safe submersible.

0:03:32.231,0:03:33.835
I like to say I don't trust[br]a lot of things in life,

0:03:33.835,0:03:35.377
but I do trust titanium,

0:03:35.377,0:03:36.279
I trust math

0:03:36.279,0:03:38.429
and I trust finite element analysis,

0:03:38.429,0:03:39.767
which is how you figure out

0:03:39.767,0:03:41.201
whether or not things[br]like this can survive

0:03:41.201,0:03:43.042
these extraordinary[br]pressures and conditions.

0:03:43.921,0:03:46.969
DB: And that sphere[br]is so perfectly machined, right?

0:03:47.231,0:03:48.892
This is a truly unique craft.

0:03:49.297,0:03:50.457
VV: That was the real trick --

0:03:50.457,0:03:55.544
is actually building a titanium sphere[br]that was accurate .1 percent of machine.

0:03:55.544,0:03:57.549
Titanium is a hard [mill] to work

0:03:57.549,0:03:58.716
and a lot of people haven't[br]been able to figure it out,

0:03:58.716,0:03:59.735
but we were very fortunate.

0:03:59.735,0:04:02.665
I've been working[br]with and extraodinary team

0:04:02.665,0:04:04.297
that was able to make[br]an almost perfect sphere,

0:04:04.297,0:04:05.373
which when you're subjecting[br]something to pressure,

0:04:05.373,0:04:07.442
that's the strongest geometry[br]you can possibly have.

0:04:07.705,0:04:10.071
So when I'm actually in the submersible[br]and that hatch closes,

0:04:10.071,0:04:11.215
I actually feel very confident

0:04:11.215,0:04:13.161
that I'm going to go down[br]and come back up.

0:04:13.407,0:04:14.894
DB: And that's the thing[br]you double-check, right?

0:04:15.138,0:04:16.029
That the hatch is closed?

0:04:16.232,0:04:17.794
VV: There are only two rules[br]in diving a submaring.

0:04:17.794,0:04:19.809
Number one is close the hatch securely.

0:04:19.809,0:04:22.134
Number two is go back to rule number one.

0:04:22.383,0:04:23.338
(Laughter)

0:04:23.741,0:04:25.825
DB: Alright so, Atlantic Ocean:

0:04:25.825,0:04:26.846
check.

0:04:26.846,0:04:28.165
Southern Ocean:

0:04:28.165,0:04:28.947
check --

0:04:28.947,0:04:32.012
VV: Yeah, no one has ever dived[br]the Southern Ocean before.

0:04:32.012,0:04:32.778
I know why --

0:04:32.778,0:04:33.882
it's really, really hostile.

0:04:33.882,0:04:35.145
The weather is awful.

0:04:35.145,0:04:36.795
The word collision kind of comes to mind.

0:04:37.432,0:04:38.793
But we did that one, yes.

0:04:39.419,0:04:40.171
Glad that's over --

0:04:40.171,0:04:41.679
(Applause)

0:04:41.679,0:04:43.231
DB: Yeah --

0:04:43.231,0:04:44.194
VV: Thank you.

0:04:44.194,0:04:44.847
DB: Yeah

0:04:44.847,0:04:46.274
(Applause)

0:04:46.274,0:04:47.066
It's like you're racing through it.

0:04:47.311,0:04:48.428
And now the Indian Ocean,

0:04:48.428,0:04:49.375
as Kelly mentioned.

0:04:49.375,0:04:50.369
VV: Yeah, that was three weeks ago.

0:04:50.369,0:04:51.864
We were fortunate enough to

0:04:51.864,0:04:52.804
for the first time[br]actually solve the mystery.

0:04:52.804,0:04:54.553
if someone had asked me three weeks ago,

0:04:54.553,0:04:56.526
"What is the deepest point[br]in the Indian Ocean?"

0:04:56.526,0:04:58.058
no one really knew.

0:04:58.058,0:04:59.027
There were two candidates,

0:04:59.027,0:05:01.013
one off of Western Australia[br]and one in the Java Trench.

0:05:01.013,0:05:03.637
We had this wonderful ship[br]with a brilliant sonar.

0:05:03.637,0:05:04.448
We mapped both of them.

0:05:04.448,0:05:07.624
We sent landers down to the bottom[br]and actually verified --

0:05:07.624,0:05:09.827
it's actually in the center portion[br]of the Java Trench,

0:05:09.827,0:05:11.894
which is where no one thought it was.

0:05:12.124,0:05:14.765
In fact, every time we've completed[br]one of our major dives,

0:05:14.765,0:05:17.120
we have to run off [br]to Wikipedia and change it

0:05:17.120,0:05:18.231
because it's completely wrong.

0:05:18.682,0:05:19.652
(Laughter)

0:05:20.044,0:05:23.596
DB: So it probably takes longer[br]to get down there

0:05:23.596,0:05:25.597
than the time you're able[br]to spend down there?

0:05:26.078,0:05:28.734
VV: No, we actually spend[br]quite a bit of time.

0:05:29.135,0:05:31.540
I have four days of oxygen[br]supply in the vessel.

0:05:31.843,0:05:32.809
If I'm down there for four days,

0:05:32.809,0:05:34.741
something's gone so wrong[br]I'm probably not going to use it,

0:05:34.741,0:05:38.925
but it fell three-hours down[br]to the deepest part of the ocean

0:05:38.925,0:05:41.566
and then we can spend[br]usually three or four hours

0:05:41.566,0:05:42.811
and then another three hours up,

0:05:42.998,0:05:45.031
so you don't really want to stay in there[br]for more than 10 or 11 hours.

0:05:45.286,0:05:46.059
It can get a little tight.

0:05:46.623,0:05:48.950
DB: Alright, so the bottom[br]of the Indian Ocean,

0:05:48.950,0:05:54.342
and so this something that no one[br]besides you has ever seen before --

0:05:54.342,0:05:58.256
VV: This is actually imagery from one[br]of our robotic landers.

0:05:58.256,0:06:01.626
On the bottom-right you can actually[br]see a robust assfish --

0:06:01.626,0:06:02.654
that's what it's actually called --

0:06:02.654,0:06:03.471
(Laughter)

0:06:03.471,0:06:06.391
But you can see from the left[br]a creature that's never been seen before.

0:06:06.391,0:06:10.253
It's actually a bottom-dwelling jellyfish[br]called a stalked ascidian,

0:06:10.253,0:06:12.647
and none of them have ever[br]looked like this before.

0:06:12.647,0:06:15.388
It actually has a small child[br]at the bottom of its stalk,

0:06:15.388,0:06:17.422
and it just drifted across beautifully.

0:06:17.863,0:06:20.370
So every single dive we have gone on,

0:06:20.370,0:06:22.424
even though we're only down there[br]for a couple of hours,

0:06:22.424,0:06:24.395
we have found three or four new species

0:06:24.395,0:06:28.061
because these are places that have[br]been isolated for billions of years

0:06:28.061,0:06:31.729
and no human being has ever[br]been down there to film them

0:06:31.729,0:06:32.736
or take samples.

0:06:33.338,0:06:34.148
And so this is extroardinary --

0:06:34.148,0:06:37.456
(Applause)

0:06:37.456,0:06:38.388
Thanks.

0:06:38.388,0:06:40.129
(Applause)

0:06:40.129,0:06:40.967
So what we are hoping --

0:06:40.967,0:06:42.147
the main objective of our mission[br]is to build this tool.

0:06:42.147,0:06:43.630
This tool is a door.

0:06:43.630,0:06:45.246
Because with this tool,

0:06:45.246,0:06:46.814
we'll be able to make[br]more of them potentially

0:06:46.814,0:06:49.430
and take scientists down[br]to do thousands of dives

0:06:49.430,0:06:50.706
to open that door to exploration

0:06:50.706,0:06:53.963
and find things that we[br]had no idea existed.

0:06:54.869,0:06:59.511
DB: And so more people have been[br]to space than the bottom of the ocean.

0:06:59.826,0:07:01.014
You're one of three.

0:07:01.456,0:07:02.815
You're going to up that number,

0:07:03.039,0:07:04.248
you're going to give it away.

0:07:04.488,0:07:05.071
VV: Yeah, three people have dived[br]to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

0:07:05.422,0:07:07.276
[Dios.....] in 1960 with two indivisuals,

0:07:07.276,0:07:12.163
James Cameron in 2012[br]with his Deep Sea Challenger --

0:07:12.163,0:07:13.170
thank you, Jim,

0:07:13.170,0:07:13.942
great sub.

0:07:14.129,0:07:15.496
And this is a third-generation technology.

0:07:15.496,0:07:17.313
We're not only going to try and go down,

0:07:17.313,0:07:18.540
actually in two weeks,

0:07:18.540,0:07:20.446
but we're going to try and do it[br]multiple times

0:07:20.446,0:07:21.634
which has never been done before.

0:07:21.634,0:07:23.995
If we can do that,

0:07:23.995,0:07:25.104
we'll have proved the technology

0:07:25.104,0:07:26.766
and that door will not just go open,

0:07:29.874,0:07:30.975
it will stay open.

0:07:31.219,0:07:31.725
(Applause)

0:07:31.946,0:07:32.461
DB: Fantastic.

0:07:32.461,0:07:32.870
Good luck.

0:07:32.870,0:07:33.655
VV: Thank you very much.

0:07:33.655,0:07:34.379
DB: Thank you.

0:07:34.379,0:07:35.454
VV: Thank you all.

0:07:35.454,0:07:37.373
(Applause)