Facts about Alvin Submersible Exploration
- 06
During a 1968 accident, Alvin sank to the ocean floor after its support cable snapped, yet the crew escaped safely before it submerged.
- 05
Built in the early 1960s, Alvin was one of the world's first deep-sea research submersibles designed to carry human scientists to the ocean floor.
- 04
Operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Alvin is a human-occupied vehicle capable of diving to depths exceeding 4,500 meters.
- 03
In 1986, Alvin carried researchers to the wreck of the Titanic, allowing scientists to conduct the first close-up human observations of the sunken ship.
- 02
Alvin was used to locate and help recover a lost hydrogen bomb off the coast of Palomares, Spain, in 1966.
- 01
The Alvin submersible was used in 1977 to discover hydrothermal vents on the Galapagos Rift, revealing chemosynthetic ecosystems independent of sunlight.