Richard Branson Sets Sights On Ocean Depths
Richard Branson Sets Sights On Ocean
Depths
Billionaire thrill-seeker Richard Branson is well-known for his aspirations of providing commercial transportation to and from space, but his latest venture, Virgin Oceanic, is aimed at another frontier: the Earth's ocean depths. Branson announced a plan to launch an undersea exploration venture earlier this month, and spoke with CNN about the voyage to the bottom of the sea on Wednesday.
“There have been about 400 people who have been into space but pretty well nobody has been down and explored the big trenches in the oceans,” explained the founder of the Virgin business conglomerate. “I am planning to go down in the Puerto Rican trench. It goes down further than Everest is high...about 28,000 feet.”
To make the voyage, Branson comissioned an airplqane-shaped sub to be built from carbon fiber and titanium. The Virgin Oceanic has a bubble-shaped quartz viewing dome that was designed to withstand more than 6 million kilograms of pressure. According to scientists working on the project, the sub has already overcome two major obstacles to deep-sea exploration: extreme cold and pressures of more than 1,000 atmospheres.
Branson say the Virgin Oceanic is capable of traveling to depths of 36,000 feet, about twice the depth-capabilities of previous advanced submarines. While the sub's planned voyage is expected to break as many as 30 world diving records, Branson insists that the voyage is about more than just the sheer adventure. “There's thousands of species that man doesn't know exists and we are going to come up with some extraordinary photographs of the most extraordinary creatures that mankind has never seen.”
Virgin Oceanic is scheduled to make five voyages, with just one passenger each trip, to the deepest points in each of the world's five oceans. Branson will be the sole passenger on at least one of the five expeditions.
Billionaire thrill-seeker Richard Branson is well-known for his aspirations of providing commercial transportation to and from space, but his latest venture, Virgin Oceanic, is aimed at another frontier: the Earth's ocean depths. Branson announced a plan to launch an undersea exploration venture earlier this month, and spoke with CNN about the voyage to the bottom of the sea on Wednesday.
“There have been about 400 people who have been into space but pretty well nobody has been down and explored the big trenches in the oceans,” explained the founder of the Virgin business conglomerate. “I am planning to go down in the Puerto Rican trench. It goes down further than Everest is high...about 28,000 feet.”
To make the voyage, Branson comissioned an airplqane-shaped sub to be built from carbon fiber and titanium. The Virgin Oceanic has a bubble-shaped quartz viewing dome that was designed to withstand more than 6 million kilograms of pressure. According to scientists working on the project, the sub has already overcome two major obstacles to deep-sea exploration: extreme cold and pressures of more than 1,000 atmospheres.
Branson say the Virgin Oceanic is capable of traveling to depths of 36,000 feet, about twice the depth-capabilities of previous advanced submarines. While the sub's planned voyage is expected to break as many as 30 world diving records, Branson insists that the voyage is about more than just the sheer adventure. “There's thousands of species that man doesn't know exists and we are going to come up with some extraordinary photographs of the most extraordinary creatures that mankind has never seen.”
Virgin Oceanic is scheduled to make five voyages, with just one passenger each trip, to the deepest points in each of the world's five oceans. Branson will be the sole passenger on at least one of the five expeditions.
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