Reaching the deepest trench

I have to say, props to Woods Hole, to getting down to the trench sooner than we did. Now with Cameron on at the race, it's just getting hotter as the days go by... I wonder what would've happened, if Fossett didn't have that accident. I would've been on the modified Cheyenne sitting on top of the trench watching our Deep Flight Challenger head down to the trench, back in 2007.

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After four years of design and construction, Nereus took its first plunge in deeper waters during a test cruise in December 2007 off the Waianae coast of Oahu, Hawaii. The one-of-a-kind vehicle can operate either as an autonomous, free-swimming robot for wide-area surveys, or as a tethered vehicle for close-up investigation and sampling of seafloor rocks and organisms. Take an Interactive Tour of Nereus to learn more. (Photo by Robert Elder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Congrats Nereus, for showing the world that it's possible, and further fueling the press for ocean access. I was lucky to be part of the Deep Flight Challenger project, and hopefully someday have that chance to be part of history again. R.I.P Steve Fossett, sometimes i still think.. that you would show up to the shop again, and go "eh huh, what's our progress".