Updates From Sea | Cruise 2007
January 25th
By Eric Simms, Education Outreach Coordinator
Word from the R/V Atlantis - making a test call.
"Tim Shank, you have a call from space on the bridge - you have a call from space on the bridge." I doubt that Mitzi Crane, the first mate of the R/V Atlantis, ever thought she'd be making that announcement over the ship's public address system. But it was true. NASA astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams was live on the phone from the International Space Station, hoping to introduce herself to Chief Scientist Tim Shank hundreds of miles out to sea in the Pacific Ocean. The two spoke for a half-hour in anticipation of their historic phone call to the sub tomorrow afternoon. Tim will place a call from nearly two miles below the ocean's surface to Suni, who will be nearly 250 miles above the Earth. The conversation will be relayed back and forth between the Alvin submersible, the R/V Atlantis, NASA in Houston, and the Space Station. In fact, the pilot and scientists who were diving in Alvin today made a successful 'test' call to the surface to be sure the communications were working properly between the sub and the ship.
Chief Scientist Tim Shank (center) reviewing dive plans with Pilot Gavin Eppard and Pilot-in-Training, Mike McCarthy. Photo © C. Sheild
Though tomorrow will be another full day of research, the excitement generated by the call has been building on the ship. Everyone here will be able to listen to the conversation via the Internet. Well, almost everyone. Some people will have to wait and listen later. They will be busy working hard, making sure the ship and sub are running safely - and taking pride in the fact that the call wouldn't be possible without their everyday efforts. We hope you'll listen, too, to find out how exciting it is to explore the extreme environments of both inner and outer space.
When you think about it, isn't it fantastic how far we've come with our abilities to communicate almost instantly around the world? The fact that we can see pictures and hear stories from sea on this site, through satellites and the power of the Internet, is a perfect example. But tomorrow's call takes the cake. Be sure to listen in!
