Despite most humans' land-centric view, Earth is an ocean
planet. The global ocean covers more than two-thirds of our
planet's surface and makes life as we know it possible: it
produces half of the oxygen we breathe, helps regulate our
climate and provides the single largest habitat for life on
Earth. Yet, with nearly 2 miles or 3,000 meters of water
covering more than half the surface of our planet, much of this
vast realm remains unexplored and unexamined. But not
unconsidered. Indeed, our progress is not limited by scientists'
and engineers' imaginations, but rather by the rate and cost of
development of technologies suitable to pursue the cause.
Advances in satellite technology provide us with global coverage
in the study of Earth's atmosphere. But in the case of the
ocean, that approach quite literally only grazes the surface.
What happens in the vast, deep ocean, out of sight and beyond
the reach of sunlight and satellites? Here's one example why we
should care: in 1977, diving in the human occupied veh