/sci/ - Science & Math

>>Twice, men in special minisubs (the Trieste and the Alvin) have descended to the Challenger Deep, and lived to talk about it:

Wrong, we've only done it once. The Trieste was the only manned descent to challenger deep.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_Deep

And even then there have only been two robotic descents to Challenger Deep. Which is a shame really, because according to some offhand calculations I made, it should be possible for just about anyone to build a robot to go to Challenger Deep, so long as the bot is completely autonomous. One of the most expensive parts of robots that have been sent down to Challenger Deep is the extremely long fiber optic cable necessary for communication. This is not needed for an autonomous robot.

As far as protecting electronics from the intense pressure goes, it's pretty simple put them in a container of hydraulic oil(allows one to use thinner walls made of cheaper material) and make sure everything's solid state. Protecting a camera to take pictures is another story as one needs to keep the camera in air(or extensively redesign the camera), this necessitates a window made of sapphire.

The only other issue is that makes this hard for just about anyone to do is obtaining a suitable ship to take the robot out to sea and to retrieve it.

>>1715864
Oil exploration is almost done exclusively by robots and at depths no human could survive in, even with a hardsuit.

What crops and fish can't be raised in hatcheries due to surface pressure?

What are you going to mine that can't be mined cheaply on the surface? Mining is a large scale operation.

Also how is this cheaper than using ROVs?

For scientific research you might have a point.