Thursday, February 10, 2005...

We near the end of our first block of Jason II studies; the vehicle has been on the ocean floor for four days, with only brief interruptions. We prepare for our first Alvin submersible dive tomorrow. The sequence of photos here shows the steps involved in sending rock samples collected by Jason II to the surface using the “elevator.” The first photos show Jason approaching the elevator (a platform with yellow buoyant spheres, which remains on the ocean floor until an iron weight is dropped). The next photos show Jason’s mechanical arms putting the basket full of rocks in a wooden box on the elevator platform. The final photo shows the elevator (with rock baskets) beginning to rise to the surface after the weight has been dropped. Recognize that all of this is controlled from the ship while watching a video of Jason on the ocean floor.