DEEP FLIGHT II: For decades, engineers and scientists have been
building human-occupied, remotely operated, and (most recently)
autonomous underwater vehicles to explore the ocean's depths.
Image: © HAWKES OCEAN TECHNOLOGIES More In This Article Deep
under the ocean's surface lies a treasure trove of new life
forms, fuel sources and knowledge. But, given the darkness,
freezing temperatures and crushing pressure, it's not easy to
get there. Indeed 95 percent of the ocean remains unexplored; we
know more about the surface of Mars than we do about the
seafloor. "More than half of the planet is covered by water more
than 3,000 meters [two miles] deep," says Chris German, chief
scientist for the deep submergence group at the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution in Cape Cod, Mass. "Most of the life
that exists on the planet exists in the oceans. But we know so
little about it." Slide Show: Manned and Unmanned Submersibles
That is beginning to change, as engineers and scientists create
new submersible vehicles and p