Editing Challenger Deep (section)

===2009 – RV ''Kilo Moana''===
[[File:US Navy 090814-N-0000X-001 The Office of Naval Research small waterplane area twin-hull oceanographic research ship R-V Kilo Moana takes part in the second Radiance in a Dynamic Ocean (RaDyO) program.jpg|thumb|The RV ''Kilo Moana'' was used as the support ship of the HROV ''[[Nereus (underwater vehicle)|Nereus]]''.]]

In May/June 2009, the US Navy-owned 3,064-ton twin-hulled research vessel [[RV Kilo Moana (T-AGOR-26)|''Kilo Moana'' (T-AGOR 26)]] was sent to the Challenger Deep area to conduct research. ''Kilo Moana'' is civilian-crewed and operated by SOEST. It is equipped with two multibeam echosounders with sub-bottom profiler add-ons (the 191-beam 12&nbsp;kHz [[Kongsberg Gruppen|Kongsberg Simrad]] EM120 with SBP-1200, capable of accuracies of 0.2–0.5% of water depth across the entire swath), [[gravimeter]], and [[magnetometer]]. The EM-120 uses 1 by 1 degree sonar-emissions at the sea surface. Each 1 degree beam width sonar ping expands to cover a circular area about {{convert|192|m|ft}} in diameter at {{convert|11000|m|ft|0}} depth. Whilst mapping the Challenger Deep the sonar equipment indicated a maximum depth of {{convert|10971|m|0|abbr=on}} at an undisclosed position.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/29970/1/Kon2010a.pdf| title = Operators Manual, EM120 Multibeam Echosounder| access-date = 1 December 2019| archive-date = 29 September 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200929021452/https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/29970/1/Kon2010a.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="Daily Reports for R/V KILO MOANA">{{Cite news|url=http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/UMC/cms/ship-daily-reports/|title=Daily Reports for R/V KILO MOANA June and July 2009|date=4 June 2009|publisher=University of Hawaii Marine Center|access-date=4 June 2009|archive-date=31 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231001444/http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/UMC/cms/ship-daily-reports/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Scientic Equipment aboard the R/V KILO MOANA">{{Cite news|url=http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/UMC/cms/kilo-moana/|title=Inventory of Scientific Equipment aboard the R/V KILO MOANA|date=4 June 2009|publisher=University of Hawaii Marine Center|access-date=4 June 2009|archive-date=24 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224214619/http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/UMC/cms/kilo-moana/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/26725/1/Kon2007a.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112152322/https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/26725/1/Kon2007a.pdf |archive-date=2019-11-12 |url-status=live|title=Product description EM 120 Multibeam echo sounder|author=Kongsberg|website=www.epic.awi.de}}</ref> Navigation equipment includes the [[Applanix|Applanix POS MV320]] V4, rated at accuracies of 0.5–2&nbsp;m.<ref>Applanix_POS_MV_-_Datasheet.pdf www.mra.pt›repositorio›pdf›especificaciones-pos-mv-320</ref> RV ''Kilo Moana'' was also used as the support ship of the [[remotely operated underwater vehicle|hybrid remotely operated underwater vehicle]] (HROV) ''[[Nereus (underwater vehicle)|Nereus]]'' that dived three times to the Challenger Deep bottom during the May/June 2009 cruise and did not confirm the sonar established maximum depth by its support ship.