“Titanic” Director James Cameron Reaches Deepest Spot on Earth, Without Cuts
Hollywood director James Cameron has made it to Earth's deepest point, breaking his own records successfully.
The maker of remarkable films like "Titanic," and ''Avatar" used, in his seven-mile dive, his 12-ton, lime-green specially designed submarine called "Deepsea Challenger" to complete his journey towards the deepest part on earth a little before 8 a.m. Monday, according to Stephanie Montgomery of the National Geographic Society.
"All systems OK," were Cameron's uttered first words upon reaching the ocean floor, according to a statement. He reached the depth of 35,756 feet on the U.S. East Coast after a descent which took more than two hours.
The extent of the trench is difficult to grasp – but could be about 120 times bigger than the Grand Canyon and more than a mile deeper than the height of the highest mountain on earth, the Mount Everest.
"It's really the first time that human eyes have had an opportunity to gaze upon what is a very alien landscape," said Terry Garcia, the National Geographic Society's executive VP for mission programs, via phone from Pitlochry, Scotland.
The first sea diver and was the only one who dove to these depths was in 1960. In another event, Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Capt. Don Walsh took about nearly 5 hours to reach the bottom and stayed just 20 minutes.
"He is going to be seeing something that none of us have ever seen before. He is going to be opening new worlds to scientists," Garcia said.
James Cameron has been an oceanography enthusiast since his childhood and has made 72 deep-sea dives. Thirty-three of those dives have been to the wreckage of the Titanic, which became the subject of his 1997 hit film bearing the same title as the wrecked ship.