Last week, while the rest of us were twiddling our thumbs and looking out the window, Chief Navy Diver Daniel Jackson of the Navy Reserve Deep Submergence Unit dived to a depth of 2000 feet, setting a record for the Navy's new Atmospheric Diving System suit. Plunging off the coast of La Jolla, Jackson was "randomly selected" to certify the ADS suit for use by the Navy. Yikes! While Jackson was "honored and privileged to be the first diver to go down to that depth," I can't help but think that the night before the dive was nerve-wracking!
The certification of the ADS -- which is remarkably similar to Nuytten's exosuit -- required 11 years of planning, designing, and testing by multiple agencies. In other words: it was a simple process. Designed to support submarine rescue, in the event of a problem, a diver can don the suit, explore a sub from the outside, and determine if any survivors exist.
So what is it like at 2000 feet? According to Jackson, "it was like a star show. The phosphorescence that was naturally in the water and in most of the sea life down there started to glow...It was the best ride in the world."
[Thanks, Frank! Cool tip!]
1. I wonder how much one of those suits will set me back.
Posted at 10:59AM on Aug 9th 2006 by Billy Williamson