By Kathy Hart 



On a crisp autumn Massachusetts 

 afternoon, I met Jason. 



It was an impressive first en- 

 counter. 



Jason was complex and strong, 

 cool under pressure. Very stable, yet 

 willing to explore. A good listener 

 and a keen observer. 



Jason was all one could ask for — 

 in a remotely operated vehicle, or 

 ROV, that is. 



Jason is one of several underwater 

 research and exploration vehicles 

 designed, built and operated by the 

 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 

 (WHOI). And on this October after- 

 noon, Jason was part of WHOI's show- 

 and-tell to visiting members of the 

 Society of Environmental Journalists. 



WHOI scientists use Jason to bring 

 the seafloor to the surface through 

 television and other imaging 

 techniques. Unlike Alvin, WHOI's 

 manned submersible, Jason 

 boldly goes alone where no 

 man has gone before. 



The ROV is tethered to a 

 surface research vessel via a 

 6.2-mile fiber-optic cable that 

 carries signals between Jason and 

 the vessel. Being unmanned, Jason 

 is designed to sink to depths of 

 20,000 feet. 



Scientists and engineers in 

 WHOI's Deep Submergence 

 Laboratory spent almost six years 

 developing this complex ROV. 

 And they continue to update and 

 improve the vehicle regularly. 



Robert Ballard, the famous WHOI 

 scientist who located and explored the 

 sunken remains of the Titanic, named 

 Jason for the Greek hero who searched 

 for the golden fleece. Jason took its 

 first dive for science in 1991, and a 

 smaller prototype, Jason Jr., was 

 operated from Alvin during the Titanic 

 exploration in 1986. 



Jason, 

 ABE 

 and 

 Alvin 



Jason and other ROVs 

 are allowing scientists to finally 

 explore and map the ocean floor. 

 In fact, the terrain of Mars — 

 more than 128 million miles away — 

 has been more thoroughly mapped 

 than Earth's ocean bottom. 



Topside, Jason weighs about 2,800 

 pounds, but once it drops beneath the 

 waves it is almost neutrally buoyant. 

 Compact in design, this ROV was 

 designed for stability when inactive and 

 for precision on the move. Powered by 

 seven electric thrusters, Jason is capable 

 of withstanding the enormous pressures 

 present at great underwater depths. 



During Jason s explorations of the 

 ocean floor, teams of scientists and 

 technicians work around the clock to 

 retrieve maximum amounts of informa- 

 tion. They work from a specially out- 

 fitted portable van that can sit on the 

 deck of almost any support vessel. From 

 the van, the scientists watch monitors 

 that display what Jason "sees" with its 

 three video cameras and "hears" with 

 acoustic equipment such as its 

 sidescan sonar. 



One scientist directs the 

 dive, piloting the vehicle with a 

 joystick and directing it to take 

 samples using its manipulator 

 arm. Other researchers and 

 technicians take navigational 

 readings, record sonar inform- 

 ation, operate the video and still 

 cameras, enter visual observations and 

 record the images and information being 

 transmitted. 



Jason and other ROVs are allowing 

 scientists to finally explore and map the 

 ocean floor. In fact, the terrain of Mars 

 — more than 128 million miles away — 

 has been more thoroughly mapped than 

 Earth's ocean bottom. 



Until the late 19th century, ocean 

 exploration was little more than fiction. 

 Because the deep sea was so remote 

 and the conditions so harsh, research 

 was limited. The first glimpses of the 

 ocean floor were bits of mud and an 

 occasional creature brought to the 

 surface at the end of depth-gauging 

 lines in the early 1 800s. 



The British Challenger expedition 

 from 1872 to 1876 was man's earliest 



20 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996 



