|
Deepseawaters
Home Deep
Sea ExplorationsOkeanos
Explorer
Okeanos Explorer: A New Paradigm for Exploration
 Okeanos Explorer will be
operated by the NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations commissioned
officers of the NOAA Corps and civilians in support of the
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration. The Corps
is composed of officers—all scientists and engineers—who provide
operational, management and technical skills supporting NOAA's
environmental programs.
Though far from Okeanos Explorer,
scientists ashore will be full members of the science team,
operating in science command centers, exchanging data and
analyzing real-time, deep-ocean images taken by remotely
operated vehicles on the ocean floor.
High-speed satellite to Internet pathways will also offer
exciting educational opportunities to raise ocean literacy.
NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Department
of Commerce, is dedicated to enhancing economic security
and national safety through the prediction and research
of weather and climate-related events and providing
environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine
resources.
 “Okeanos Explorer will
break the mold for the way the nation conducts at-sea
research in the future. We have better maps of Mars
and the far side of the moon than of the deep and remote regions
of Earth,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher
Jr., Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans
and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “Senator Reed
and Governor Carcieri have been outspoken champions of the
oceans. Their support combined with the wealth of academic
and oceanographic institutions in New England would lead to
many exciting collaborations in ocean exploration.”
As part of the NOAA fleet, Okeanos
Explorer will be operated, managed and maintained
by the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. Its
crew will consist of technical specialists, wage mariners,
scientists, and commissioned officers of the NOAA Corps—the
nation’s seventh uniformed service. The Corps is composed
of scientists and engineers who provide NOAA with an important
blend of operational, management and technical skills that
support the agency’s environmental programs at sea, in the
air and ashore. A NOAA Corps officer will command Okeanos
Explorer.
 Since 2004, the NOAA Ocean Exploration
(OE) program and Dr. Robert Ballard’s Institute for
Exploration (IFE) have conducted a series of expeditions
using IFE’s ROV’s Hercules and Argus, and
telepresence technology to provide scientists working on shore
high-definition video, images, and data in real time. These
expeditions have also provided an opportunity for students,
teachers, and the general public to share in the excitement
of discovery through events staged at “Expedition Command
Centers,” through links to real-time video via the Internet,
and to various informal science centers and the Boys and Girls
Clubs of America through a partnership with Immersion Presents.
Finally, each expedition has served as a proving ground for
a new paradigm for exploring unknown and poorly known ocean
areas and phenomena using the new NOAA Ship Okeanos
Explorer, currently undergoing conversion in Seattle,
WA.
 During
the month of August, OE and IFE will engage in two efforts
that will be invaluable for finalizing our plans for the inaugural
year of the Okeanos Explorer. First, we will
be revisiting the Aegean and Black Seas to
further explore the natural environment and to search for
and investigate Byzantine shipwrecks. This time, the expedition
includes specific objectives for testing and evaluating systems
and protocols similar to those being installed on the new
ship. Second, the Okeanos Explorer will undergo
sea trials to
test all of the systems installed on the vessel during the
first phase of the conversion, including equipment for operating
and navigating the vessel, as well as equipment designed to
meet mission objectives. The results of the sea trials will
be critical for guiding the second phase of the conversion,
which will include the installation of the high-end technology
to support telepresence, and the integration of the equipment
to operate a new two-vehicle ROV system similar to the Hercules
and Argus.
This “mission” is unique in that it will
focus on two field activities involving the dedicated team
of OE and IFE staff who are working to ensure that the Okeanos
Explorer will help NOAA and the Nation usher in a
new era of ocean exploration.
 Email
To Friend
| 
