Editing Challenger Deep (section)

====2012 – ''Deepsea Challenger''====
{{main|Deepsea Challenger}}
[[File:Deepsea Challenger Panorama.jpg|thumb|DSV ''Deepsea Challenger'']]
On 26 March 2012 (local time), Canadian film director [[James Cameron]] made a solo descent in the [[deep submergence vehicle|DSV]] ''Deepsea Challenger'' to the bottom of the Challenger Deep.<ref name="NGS-20120325">{{cite web|last=Than|first=Ker|title=James Cameron Completes Record-Breaking Mariana Trench Dive|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120325-james-cameron-mariana-trench-challenger-deepest-returns-science-sub/|date=25 March 2012|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|access-date=25 March 2012|archive-date=16 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516231005/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120325-james-cameron-mariana-trench-challenger-deepest-returns-science-sub/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="NYT-20120325">{{cite news |last=Broad|first=William J. |title=Filmmaker in Submarine Voyages to Bottom of Sea|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/science/james-camerons-submarine-trip-to-challenger-deep.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/science/james-camerons-submarine-trip-to-challenger-deep.html |archive-date=2022-01-01 |url-access=limited|date=25 March 2012 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=25 March 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="MSNBC-20120325">{{cite web |author=AP Staff |title=James Cameron has reached deepest spot on Earth |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna46850002 |date=25 March 2012 |work=[[NBC News]] |access-date=25 March 2012 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930203233/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/46850002 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Prince |first=Rosa |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/guam/9166425/James-Cameron-becomes-first-solo-diver-to-visit-Earths-deepest-point.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/guam/9166425/James-Cameron-becomes-first-solo-diver-to-visit-Earths-deepest-point.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=James Cameron becomes first solo diver to visit Earth's deepest point |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=25 March 2012 |access-date=26 March 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
At approximately 05:15 [[ChST]] on 26 March (19:15 UTC on 25 March), the descent began.<ref name="James Cameron Begins Descent to Ocean's Deepest Point">{{cite web |author=National Geographic |title=James Cameron Begins Descent to Ocean's Deepest Point |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120325-james-cameron-mariana-trench-dive-deepest-science-sub-descent/ |date=25 March 2012 |publisher=National Geographic Society |access-date=25 March 2012 |archive-date=27 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327014617/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120325-james-cameron-mariana-trench-dive-deepest-science-sub-descent/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
At 07:52 ChST (21:52 UTC), ''Deepsea Challenger'' arrived at the bottom. The descent lasted 2 hours and 36 minutes and the recorded depth was {{convert|10908|m|ft}} when ''Deepsea Challenger'' touched down.<ref name="James Cameron Now at Ocean's Deepest Point">{{cite web |author=National Geographic |title=James Cameron Now at Ocean's Deepest Point |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120325-james-cameron-mariana-trench-challenger-deep-deepest-science-sub/ |date=25 March 2012 |publisher=National Geographic Society |access-date=25 March 2012 |archive-date=27 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327053619/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120325-james-cameron-mariana-trench-challenger-deep-deepest-science-sub/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Cameron had planned to spend about six hours near the ocean floor exploring but decided to start the ascent to the surface after only 2 hours and 34 minutes.<ref name="Cameron's Historic Dive Cut Short by Leak; Few Signs of Life Seen">{{cite web |author=National Geographic |title=Cameron's Historic Dive Cut Short by Leak; Few Signs of Life Seen |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120326-james-cameron-mariana-trench-fluid-leak-fish-science-sub/ |date=26 March 2012 |publisher=National Geographic Society |access-date=26 March 2012 |archive-date=28 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328060000/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120326-james-cameron-mariana-trench-fluid-leak-fish-science-sub/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The time on the bottom was shortened because a hydraulic fluid leak in the lines controlling the manipulator arm obscured the visibility out of the only viewing port. It also caused the loss of the submersible's starboard thrusters.<ref name="Problems at the bottom">{{cite web |author=National Geographic |title=Cameron's Historic Dive Cut Short by Leak; Few Signs of Life Seen |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120326-james-cameron-mariana-trench-fluid-leak-fish-science-sub/ |date=28 March 2012 |publisher=National Geographic Society |access-date=28 March 2012 |archive-date=28 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328060000/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120326-james-cameron-mariana-trench-fluid-leak-fish-science-sub/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> At around 12:00 ChST (02:00 UTC on 26 March), the Deepsea Challenger website says the sub resurfaced after a 90-minute ascent,<ref name="We Just Did the Impossible">{{cite web |author=deepseachallenge.com |title=We Just Did the Impossible |url=http://deepseachallenge.com/expedition-journal/we-just-did-the-impossible/ |date=25 March 2012 |publisher=deepseachallenge.com |access-date=26 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329093127/http://deepseachallenge.com/expedition-journal/we-just-did-the-impossible/ |archive-date=29 March 2012}}</ref> although [[Paul Allen]]'s tweets indicate the ascent took only about 67 minutes.<ref>{{cite tweet|number=184097111770529793|user=PaulGAllen|title=#deepseachallenge has surfaced, now for recovery...<!-- full text of tweet that Twitter returned to the bot (excluding links) added by TweetCiteBot. This may be better truncated or may need expanding (TW limits responses to 140 characters) or case changes. --> |accessdate=22 July 2022|date=26 March 2012}}</ref> During a post-dive press conference Cameron said: "I landed on a very soft, almost gelatinous flat plain. Once I got my bearings, I drove across it for quite a distance ... and finally worked my way up the slope." The whole time, Cameron said, he didn't see any fish, or any living creatures more than an inch (2.54&nbsp;cm) long: "The only free swimmers I saw were small [[amphipods]]" – shrimplike bottom-feeders.<ref name="James Cameron on Earth's Deepest Spot: Desolate, Lunar-Like">{{cite web |author=National Geographic |title=James Cameron on Earth's Deepest Spot: Desolate, Lunar-Like |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120326-james-cameron-mariana-trench-challenger-deepest-lunar-sub-science/ |date=27 March 2012 |publisher=National Geographic Society |access-date=27 March 2012 |archive-date=28 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328064958/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120326-james-cameron-mariana-trench-challenger-deepest-lunar-sub-science/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>