1
00:00:00,950 --> 00:00:04,085
David Bello: So Victor,
what have you been up to?

2
00:00:05,464 --> 00:00:07,660
Victor Vescovo: That's the bottom
of the Atlantic Ocean,

3
00:00:07,660 --> 00:00:10,692
and I guess I read too much
Jules Verne as a young boy,

4
00:00:10,692 --> 00:00:14,700
and so for the last four years
I've led a team to design and build

5
00:00:14,700 --> 00:00:15,898
what is now the most advanced

6
00:00:15,898 --> 00:00:17,947
and deepest diving
submersible on the planet.

7
00:00:18,334 --> 00:00:20,861
And I have the ability
to personally pilot it too.

8
00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:23,383
So this was us in December of last year

9
00:00:23,383 --> 00:00:24,385
for the first time --

10
00:00:24,385 --> 00:00:25,743
the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

11
00:00:26,212 --> 00:00:27,805
DB: And nobody's seen that before right?

12
00:00:28,021 --> 00:00:28,753
That's just you.

13
00:00:28,954 --> 00:00:29,866
VV: No --

14
00:00:29,866 --> 00:00:31,103
well, now everybody else.

15
00:00:32,062 --> 00:00:33,204
DB: Who does that?

16
00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:34,885
Like --

17
00:00:34,885 --> 00:00:38,950
VV: Well, I think everyone has seen
all the developments the last 10-15 years,

18
00:00:39,163 --> 00:00:42,205
you have a bunch of people that have
the means to explore outer space,

19
00:00:42,205 --> 00:00:44,466
like SpaceX or Blue Origin --

20
00:00:44,466 --> 00:00:45,079
those guys --

21
00:00:45,079 --> 00:00:46,614
and we're going in the other direction.

22
00:00:46,759 --> 00:00:48,026
So it's a wonderful era

23
00:00:48,026 --> 00:00:50,403
of private individuals
spending their resources

24
00:00:50,403 --> 00:00:53,039
to develop technologies
that can take us to places

25
00:00:53,039 --> 00:00:54,709
that have never been explored before,

26
00:00:54,922 --> 00:00:57,218
and the oceans of the world is --

27
00:00:57,218 --> 00:00:58,340
it's almost a cliché to say --

28
00:00:58,340 --> 00:01:00,938
70 percent of our entire planet,

29
00:01:00,938 --> 00:01:02,907
and of that, 95 percent is unexplored.

30
00:01:03,274 --> 00:01:05,636
So what we're trying to
with our expedition

31
00:01:05,636 --> 00:01:08,436
is to build and [prove] out a submersible

32
00:01:08,436 --> 00:01:10,740
that can go to any point
on the bottom of the planet

33
00:01:10,740 --> 00:01:14,373
to explore the 60 percent of this planet
that is still unexplored.

34
00:01:15,572 --> 00:01:17,659
DB: You need a pretty cool tool
to do that, right?

35
00:01:17,892 --> 00:01:18,863
VV: Right.

36
00:01:18,863 --> 00:01:21,555
Now the tool is the submarine
Limiting Factor.

37
00:01:21,555 --> 00:01:24,735
It's a state-of-the-art vessel
support by the support ship,

38
00:01:24,735 --> 00:01:25,963
the Pressure Drop.

39
00:01:25,963 --> 00:01:27,774
It has a two-person titanium sphere,

40
00:01:27,774 --> 00:01:28,823
90 milimeters-thick,

41
00:01:28,823 --> 00:01:30,128
that keeps it at one atmosphere

42
00:01:30,128 --> 00:01:32,812
and it has the ability to dive repeatedly

43
00:01:32,812 --> 00:01:34,950
down to the very deepest
point of the ocean.

44
00:01:35,431 --> 00:01:39,305
DB: So like the SpaceX
of ocean exploration?

45
00:01:39,580 --> 00:01:41,484
VV: Yeah, it's kind of the SpaceX
of ocean exploration,

46
00:01:41,484 --> 00:01:43,035
but I pilot my own vehicles.

47
00:01:44,233 --> 00:01:45,873
(Laughter)

48
00:01:46,070 --> 00:01:48,056
VV: You're going to take Elon or ... ?

49
00:01:48,958 --> 00:01:50,438
VV: Yeah, I could take someone down there.

50
00:01:50,770 --> 00:01:52,649
So, Elon, I don't if you're listening,

51
00:01:52,649 --> 00:01:53,706
I'll give you a ride in mine
if you give me a ride in yours.

52
00:01:55,610 --> 00:01:57,440
(Laughter)

53
00:01:58,336 --> 00:02:00,949
DB: So tell us what it's like down there.

54
00:02:01,183 --> 00:02:04,395
I mean, we're talking about a place
where the pressure is so intense

55
00:02:04,395 --> 00:02:06,915
that it's like putting
the Eiffel Tower on your toe.

56
00:02:07,132 --> 00:02:08,121
VV: It's more than that.

57
00:02:08,121 --> 00:02:09,296
It's about 16,000 psi.

58
00:02:09,833 --> 00:02:12,328
So the issue is we have
this titanium sphere

59
00:02:12,328 --> 00:02:14,702
that allows us to go down
to these extreme depths

60
00:02:14,702 --> 00:02:15,830
and come up repeatedly.

61
00:02:16,317 --> 00:02:17,358
That's never been done before.

62
00:02:17,619 --> 00:02:19,913
The Challenger Deep has been dived twice,

63
00:02:19,913 --> 00:02:23,267
once in 1960 and once in 2012
by James Cameron,

64
00:02:23,267 --> 00:02:24,887
and they went down and came back up

65
00:02:24,887 --> 00:02:26,145
and those were experimental craft.

66
00:02:26,402 --> 00:02:28,668
This is the first commercially
certified submersible.

67
00:02:28,868 --> 00:02:32,285
It can go up and down
thousands of times with two people,

68
00:02:32,285 --> 00:02:33,334
including a scientist.

69
00:02:33,492 --> 00:02:34,432
And we're very proud

70
00:02:34,432 --> 00:02:37,318
that we just took down the deepest-diving
British citizen in history

71
00:02:37,318 --> 00:02:38,371
just three weeks ago,

72
00:02:38,371 --> 00:02:40,509
Dr. Alan Jamieson of Newcastle University

73
00:02:40,509 --> 00:02:42,586
who was down with us on the Java Trench.

74
00:02:43,648 --> 00:02:47,455
DB: So not too much freaks you out
is what I'm guessing.

75
00:02:48,140 --> 00:02:50,100
VV: Well, it's a lot
different to go diving.

76
00:02:50,372 --> 00:02:52,747
If you're claustrophobic you do not
want to be in the submarine.

77
00:02:53,558 --> 00:02:54,616
We go down quite a distance

78
00:02:54,616 --> 00:02:57,502
and the missions typically last
eight to nine hours in a confined space.

79
00:02:57,758 --> 00:02:59,836
So it's very different to the career
I had previous to this,

80
00:02:59,836 --> 00:03:00,903
which was mountain climbing,

81
00:03:00,903 --> 00:03:02,779
where you're in large, open spaces,

82
00:03:02,779 --> 00:03:03,649
the wind is whipping,

83
00:03:03,649 --> 00:03:04,859
it's very, very cold.

84
00:03:04,859 --> 00:03:06,216
This is the opposite.

85
00:03:06,216 --> 00:03:07,423
It's much more technical.

86
00:03:07,423 --> 00:03:09,966
It's much more about precision
and using the instruments

87
00:03:09,966 --> 00:03:11,619
and troubleshooting anything
that can go wrong.

88
00:03:11,955 --> 00:03:13,666
But actually if something
really goes wrong in the submersible,

89
00:03:13,666 --> 00:03:15,234
you're not going to know it.

90
00:03:15,736 --> 00:03:17,385
(Laughter)

91
00:03:17,669 --> 00:03:19,697
DB: So you're afraid of leaks
is what you're saying.

92
00:03:19,895 --> 00:03:21,392
VV: Yeah, leaks are not good,

93
00:03:21,847 --> 00:03:23,173
but if it's a leak that's happening,

94
00:03:23,173 --> 00:03:24,025
well at least it's not that bad

95
00:03:24,025 --> 00:03:25,254
because if it was really bad
you wouldn't know it --

96
00:03:25,254 --> 00:03:26,805
again, but --

97
00:03:26,805 --> 00:03:28,197
(Laughter)

98
00:03:28,197 --> 00:03:29,469
You know, fire in the capsule,

99
00:03:29,469 --> 00:03:30,054
that wouldn't be good either,

100
00:03:30,054 --> 00:03:32,231
but no, it's actually a very,
very safe submersible.

101
00:03:32,231 --> 00:03:33,835
I like to say I don't trust
a lot of things in life,

102
00:03:33,835 --> 00:03:35,377
but I do trust titanium,

103
00:03:35,377 --> 00:03:36,279
I trust math

104
00:03:36,279 --> 00:03:38,429
and I trust finite element analysis,

105
00:03:38,429 --> 00:03:39,767
which is how you figure out

106
00:03:39,767 --> 00:03:41,201
whether or not things
like this can survive

107
00:03:41,201 --> 00:03:43,042
these extraordinary
pressures and conditions.

108
00:03:43,921 --> 00:03:46,969
DB: And that sphere
is so perfectly machined, right?

109
00:03:47,231 --> 00:03:48,892
This is a truly unique craft.

110
00:03:49,297 --> 00:03:50,457
VV: That was the real trick --

111
00:03:50,457 --> 00:03:55,544
is actually building a titanium sphere
that was accurate .1 percent of machine.

112
00:03:55,544 --> 00:03:57,549
Titanium is a hard [mill] to work

113
00:03:57,549 --> 00:03:58,716
and a lot of people haven't
been able to figure it out,

114
00:03:58,716 --> 00:03:59,735
but we were very fortunate.

115
00:03:59,735 --> 00:04:02,665
I've been working
with and extraodinary team

116
00:04:02,665 --> 00:04:04,297
that was able to make
an almost perfect sphere,

117
00:04:04,297 --> 00:04:05,373
which when you're subjecting
something to pressure,

118
00:04:05,373 --> 00:04:07,442
that's the strongest geometry
you can possibly have.

119
00:04:07,705 --> 00:04:10,071
So when I'm actually in the submersible
and that hatch closes,

120
00:04:10,071 --> 00:04:11,215
I actually feel very confident

121
00:04:11,215 --> 00:04:13,161
that I'm going to go down
and come back up.

122
00:04:13,407 --> 00:04:14,894
DB: And that's the thing
you double-check, right?

123
00:04:15,138 --> 00:04:16,029
That the hatch is closed?

124
00:04:16,232 --> 00:04:17,794
VV: There are only two rules
in diving a submaring.

125
00:04:17,794 --> 00:04:19,809
Number one is close the hatch securely.

126
00:04:19,809 --> 00:04:22,134
Number two is go back to rule number one.

127
00:04:22,383 --> 00:04:23,338
(Laughter)

128
00:04:23,741 --> 00:04:25,825
DB: Alright so, Atlantic Ocean:

129
00:04:25,825 --> 00:04:26,846
check.

130
00:04:26,846 --> 00:04:28,165
Southern Ocean:

131
00:04:28,165 --> 00:04:28,947
check --

132
00:04:28,947 --> 00:04:32,012
VV: Yeah, no one has ever dived
the Southern Ocean before.

133
00:04:32,012 --> 00:04:32,778
I know why --

134
00:04:32,778 --> 00:04:33,882
it's really, really hostile.

135
00:04:33,882 --> 00:04:35,145
The weather is awful.

136
00:04:35,145 --> 00:04:36,795
The word collision kind of comes to mind.

137
00:04:37,432 --> 00:04:38,793
But we did that one, yes.

138
00:04:39,419 --> 00:04:40,171
Glad that's over --

139
00:04:40,171 --> 00:04:41,679
(Applause)

140
00:04:41,679 --> 00:04:43,231
DB: Yeah --

141
00:04:43,231 --> 00:04:44,194
VV: Thank you.

142
00:04:44,194 --> 00:04:44,847
DB: Yeah

143
00:04:44,847 --> 00:04:46,274
(Applause)

144
00:04:46,274 --> 00:04:47,066
It's like you're racing through it.

145
00:04:47,311 --> 00:04:48,428
And now the Indian Ocean,

146
00:04:48,428 --> 00:04:49,375
as Kelly mentioned.

147
00:04:49,375 --> 00:04:50,369
VV: Yeah, that was three weeks ago.

148
00:04:50,369 --> 00:04:51,864
We were fortunate enough to

149
00:04:51,864 --> 00:04:52,804
for the first time
actually solve the mystery.

150
00:04:52,804 --> 00:04:54,553
if someone had asked me three weeks ago,

151
00:04:54,553 --> 00:04:56,526
"What is the deepest point
in the Indian Ocean?"

152
00:04:56,526 --> 00:04:58,058
no one really knew.

153
00:04:58,058 --> 00:04:59,027
There were two candidates,

154
00:04:59,027 --> 00:05:01,013
one off of Western Australia
and one in the Java Trench.

155
00:05:01,013 --> 00:05:03,637
We had this wonderful ship
with a brilliant sonar.

156
00:05:03,637 --> 00:05:04,448
We mapped both of them.

157
00:05:04,448 --> 00:05:07,624
We sent landers down to the bottom
and actually verified --

158
00:05:07,624 --> 00:05:09,827
it's actually in the center portion
of the Java Trench,

159
00:05:09,827 --> 00:05:11,894
which is where no one thought it was.

160
00:05:12,124 --> 00:05:14,765
In fact, every time we've completed
one of our major dives,

161
00:05:14,765 --> 00:05:17,120
we have to run off 
to Wikipedia and change it

162
00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:18,231
because it's completely wrong.

163
00:05:18,682 --> 00:05:19,652
(Laughter)

164
00:05:20,044 --> 00:05:23,596
DB: So it probably takes longer
to get down there

165
00:05:23,596 --> 00:05:25,597
than the time you're able
to spend down there?

166
00:05:26,078 --> 00:05:28,734
VV: No, we actually spend
quite a bit of time.

167
00:05:29,135 --> 00:05:31,540
I have four days of oxygen
supply in the vessel.

168
00:05:31,843 --> 00:05:32,809
If I'm down there for four days,

169
00:05:32,809 --> 00:05:34,741
something's gone so wrong
I'm probably not going to use it,

170
00:05:34,741 --> 00:05:38,925
but it fell three-hours down
to the deepest part of the ocean

171
00:05:38,925 --> 00:05:41,566
and then we can spend
usually three or four hours

172
00:05:41,566 --> 00:05:42,811
and then another three hours up,

173
00:05:42,998 --> 00:05:45,031
so you don't really want to stay in there
for more than 10 or 11 hours.

174
00:05:45,286 --> 00:05:46,059
It can get a little tight.

175
00:05:46,623 --> 00:05:48,950
DB: Alright, so the bottom
of the Indian Ocean,

176
00:05:48,950 --> 00:05:54,342
and so this something that no one
besides you has ever seen before --

177
00:05:54,342 --> 00:05:58,256
VV: This is actually imagery from one
of our robotic landers.

178
00:05:58,256 --> 00:06:01,626
On the bottom-right you can actually
see a robust assfish --

179
00:06:01,626 --> 00:06:02,654
that's what it's actually called --

180
00:06:02,654 --> 00:06:03,471
(Laughter)

181
00:06:03,471 --> 00:06:06,391
But you can see from the left
a creature that's never been seen before.

182
00:06:06,391 --> 00:06:10,253
It's actually a bottom-dwelling jellyfish
called a stalked ascidian,

183
00:06:10,253 --> 00:06:12,647
and none of them have ever
looked like this before.

184
00:06:12,647 --> 00:06:15,388
It actually has a small child
at the bottom of its stalk,

185
00:06:15,388 --> 00:06:17,422
and it just drifted across beautifully.

186
00:06:17,863 --> 00:06:20,370
So every single dive we have gone on,

187
00:06:20,370 --> 00:06:22,424
even though we're only down there
for a couple of hours,

188
00:06:22,424 --> 00:06:24,395
we have found three or four new species

189
00:06:24,395 --> 00:06:28,061
because these are places that have
been isolated for billions of years

190
00:06:28,061 --> 00:06:31,729
and no human being has ever
been down there to film them

191
00:06:31,729 --> 00:06:32,736
or take samples.

192
00:06:33,338 --> 00:06:34,148
And so this is extroardinary --

193
00:06:34,148 --> 00:06:37,456
(Applause)

194
00:06:37,456 --> 00:06:38,388
Thanks.

195
00:06:38,388 --> 00:06:40,129
(Applause)

196
00:06:40,129 --> 00:06:40,967
So what we are hoping --

197
00:06:40,967 --> 00:06:42,147
the main objective of our mission
is to build this tool.

198
00:06:42,147 --> 00:06:43,630
This tool is a door.

199
00:06:43,630 --> 00:06:45,246
Because with this tool,

200
00:06:45,246 --> 00:06:46,814
we'll be able to make
more of them potentially

201
00:06:46,814 --> 00:06:49,430
and take scientists down
to do thousands of dives

202
00:06:49,430 --> 00:06:50,706
to open that door to exploration

203
00:06:50,706 --> 00:06:53,963
and find things that we
had no idea existed.

204
00:06:54,869 --> 00:06:59,511
DB: And so more people have been
to space than the bottom of the ocean.

205
00:06:59,826 --> 00:07:01,014
You're one of three.

206
00:07:01,456 --> 00:07:02,815
You're going to up that number,

207
00:07:03,039 --> 00:07:04,248
you're going to give it away.

208
00:07:04,488 --> 00:07:05,071
VV: Yeah, three people have dived
to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

209
00:07:05,422 --> 00:07:07,276
[Dios.....] in 1960 with two indivisuals,

210
00:07:07,276 --> 00:07:12,163
James Cameron in 2012
with his Deep Sea Challenger --

211
00:07:12,163 --> 00:07:13,170
thank you, Jim,

212
00:07:13,170 --> 00:07:13,942
great sub.

213
00:07:14,129 --> 00:07:15,496
And this is a third-generation technology.

214
00:07:15,496 --> 00:07:17,313
We're not only going to try and go down,

215
00:07:17,313 --> 00:07:18,540
actually in two weeks,

216
00:07:18,540 --> 00:07:20,446
but we're going to try and do it
multiple times

217
00:07:20,446 --> 00:07:21,634
which has never been done before.

218
00:07:21,634 --> 00:07:23,995
If we can do that,

219
00:07:23,995 --> 00:07:25,104
we'll have proved the technology

220
00:07:25,104 --> 00:07:26,766
and that door will not just go open,

221
00:07:29,874 --> 00:07:30,975
it will stay open.

222
00:07:31,219 --> 00:07:31,725
(Applause)

223
00:07:31,946 --> 00:07:32,461
DB: Fantastic.

224
00:07:32,461 --> 00:07:32,870
Good luck.

225
00:07:32,870 --> 00:07:33,655
VV: Thank you very much.

226
00:07:33,655 --> 00:07:34,379
DB: Thank you.

227
00:07:34,379 --> 00:07:35,454
VV: Thank you all.

228
00:07:35,454 --> 00:07:37,373
(Applause)