Astronaut Richard Garriot will cross the depths of the Mariana Trench later this month, making him the first Briton to enter both the deepest and deepest parts of the ocean.
The entrepreneur, 59, has previously sailed to the North and South poles and wrecked the Titanic, and is only the 14th survivor to go to the bottom of the trench.
About 1,580 miles long, the Mariana Trench reaches down to 6.825 miles below the ocean’s surface at its deepest point, known as the ‘Challenger Deep’.
Mr. Garriot visited the International Space Station back in 2008, traveling up with the Soyuz TMA-13 mission and returning to Earth 12 days later.
During his journey, he filmed ‘Apogee of Fear’, the first sci-fi film shot entirely in space, which was released on DVD with a documentary about his space journey.
He also smuggled into laminated carts with an orbit that contained part of the ashes of James Doohan, the actor who portrayed Montgomery engineer ‘Scotty’ Scott in Star Trek.
More of Mr. Doohan’s ashes would be transported into space aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in May 2012.
Astronaut Richard Garriot, pictured, is about to cross the depths of the Mariana Trench – making him the first Briton to enter both space and the deepest part of the ocean
The explorer, 59 – who has also been to the North and South poles and the wreck of the Titanic – is the only 14th survivor to go to the bottom of the trench. Pictured: the submersible that entrepreneur Richard Garriot travels into the deepest part of the ocean
‘Later this month I’m going to the deepest part of the planet and I’m excited about it,’ Mr Garriot told the Mirror.
It’s going to be very difficult to hit a place. The view of the earth from space is truly life-changing. ‘
‘There’s something called the overview effect that’s literally a life-changing experience that most people who go around the earth have had – and I have that too.’
‘Although the view from a port hole view will only come from the inside as far as the light will give you. ‘
‘It’s like looking at the moon but when you’re only ten feet above its surface just looking at the rocks and the bumps and the dust.’
About 1,580 miles long, the Marianas Trench reaches 6.825 miles below the surface of the ocean at its deepest point, known as the ‘Challenger Deep’.
‘This is going to be a very different experience,’ he concluded.
Mr Garriot’s deep sea voyage lasts approximately 12 hours in total, with the descent and return to the surface together taking eight hours, leaving four hours to explore at the bottom of the ocean .
On his journey into the abyss, the former astronaut has said he plans to wear the same suit worn into space – one that features both the union jack and American stars and stripes on the face.
The inward-moving Mr. Garriot submersible was designed and built by the US company Triton at the command of Caladan Oceanic, a company undertaking a multi-million pound project to study the depths of the world’s oceans.
Mr. Garriot visited the International Space Station back in 2008, traveling up with the Soyuz TMA-13 mission and returning to Earth 12 days later. Pictured: Mr Garriot is tucked into his space suit at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on October 12, 2008
The submersible Mr Garriot (pictured here loaded into the ocean) travels in. Designed and built by the US company Triton at the command of Caladan Oceanic, a company undertaking a project worth millions of pounds to explore the depths of the world’s oceans.
Two Devon-based Britons John Ramsay, 40, and Tom Blades, 37, are Triton’s chief engineers and designed the submarine.
‘This particular submersible was not just designed to take someone to the bottom of the ocean and set a world record,’ Mr Ramsay told the Mirror.
The submersible idea was to make it not an experiment – a legacy would go on for years completing science and exploring the ocean. ‘
‘We had a two-year construction program so that two passengers would be diverted by proven sea depths.’
‘It has never been done before.’
“Many Britons are involved in this project,” he said.
‘What always amazes me is how amazing British people and companies are when it comes to doing something different or out of the ordinary.’
It is always a pleasure to work with British companies. I like it.’
Mr Garriot’s deep sea voyage lasts approximately 12 hours in total – with the descent and return to the surface combined taking eight hours, leaving four hours to explore at the bottom of the ocean . On his journey into the depths, the ancient astronaut has said that he intends to wear the same suit he put into space – one that features both the union jack and American stars and stripes on the face, as seen in the picture
‘We hope, of course, to bring microbes and fish and other species to the world that have never been seen before,’ said Mr Garriot.
The entrepreneur said all the data collected through the dive will be sent to the public domain.
‘It will be a gift to the world,’ he said.
STEPHEN’S FIGHTING ZERO-GRAVITY FLU
Pictured: Stephen Hawking in zero weight
Richard Garriot is also known for bringing Stephen Hawking’s famous theoretical physics on a zero-gravity flight.
Flights like this – known as ‘vomit associations’ – follow parabolic paths that cause them to fall free at various places.
‘It was an amazing experience,’ he told the Mirror.
Our mantra for the day was: ‘We can’t kill Stephen Hawking! ‘
‘He liked it, We did one parabola and that was going to be.’
‘But he asked for one more than that. We finished making ten. ‘