Challenger Deep (CD) is the deepest known point in the Earth's seabed hydrosphere, a slot-shaped valley in the floor of Mariana Trench, with depths exceeding 10,900 meters. It is located in the Federated States of Micronesia. In 2019, sonar mapping of Challenger Deep by the DSSV Pressure Drop, which employed a Kongsberg SIMRAD EM124 multi beam echosounder system, showed the bottom of Challenger Deep comprised three 'pools' – Western, Central and Eastern.
In 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard were the first two humans to reach Challenger Deep, completing that dive as a team. 52 years later, James Cameron became the first person to solo dive that point. Piccard, Walsh and Cameron remained the only people to reach the Challenger Deep until 2019, when regular dives in DSV Limiting Factor began. To date, 19 of the 22 successful descents have been made in the DSV Limiting Factor. No other craft has made a repeat descent.
Astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan and mountaineer Vanessa O'Brien were the first two women to visit Challenger Deep in 2020. Victor Vescovo has made the most dives to Challenger Deep; by August 2022 he had made eleven dives to the Eastern pool, two to the Western pool, and two to the Central pool for a total of 15 dives.
The following is a list of individuals who have descended to Challenger Deep in the Federated States of Micronesia. These individuals will have descended at least 10,900 m (35,761 ft) into one of the three pools (western, central or eastern) that constitute Challenger Deep.
No. | Date | Name | Submersible | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | January 23, 1960 | Trieste | Western Pool | World first; depth record | |
2 | March 25, 2012 | James Cameron | Deepsea Challenger | Eastern Pool | First solo |
3 | April 28, 2019 | Victor Vescovo | Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool | Depth record; two solo dives. First person to reach Earth's highest and lowest points. |
4 | May 1, 2019 |
|
Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool | Deepest marine recovery |
5 | May 5, 2019 | John Ramsay | Limiting Factor | Central Pool | Limiting Factor's designer. Pilot: Lahey |
6 | June 7, 2020 | Kathryn Sullivan | Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool | First woman and first astronaut. Pilot: Vescovo |
7 | June 12, 2020 | Vanessa O'Brien | Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool | First woman to Earth's highest and lowest points. Pilot: Vescovo |
8 | June 14, 2020 | John Rost | Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool | Longest time at bottom: 4.2 hours. Pilot: Vescovo |
9 | June 20, 2020 | Kelly Walsh | Limiting Factor | Western Pool | Son of Don Walsh. First father and son. Pilot: Vescovo |
10 | June 22, 2020 | Ying-Tsong Lin | Limiting Factor | Central Pool | First Asian person. Pilot: Vescovo |
11 | June 26, 2020 | Jim Wigginton | Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool | Oldest person. Pilot: Vescovo |
12 | November 10, 2020 |
|
Fendouzhe (奋斗者, Striver) | Eastern Pool | First PRC citizens. Pilot: Zhāng Wěi 张伟 |
13 | March 1, 2021 | Richard Garriott | Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool | First to both poles, space and Challenger Deep. First male astronaut to Challenger Deep. Pilot: Vescovo |
14 | March 3, 2021 | Michael Dubno | Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool | First Jewish person
Pilot: Vescovo |
15 | March 5, 2021 | Hamish Harding | Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool |
Records for longest time at bottom (4.25 hours) and longest traverse at bottom (4.6 km). First crew to go to space and Challenger Deep together. Pilot: Vescovo |
16 | March 11, 2021 | Nicole Yamase | Limiting Factor | Western Pool | First Pacific Islander. Pilot: Vescovo |
17 | April 8, 2021 |
|
Limiting Factor | Western Pool | First New Zealander and first Australian. Pilot: Macdonald |
18 | April 15, 2021 | Limiting Factor | Pilot: Patrick Lahey | ||
19 | July 3, 2022 | Aaron Newman | Limiting Factor | Central Pool |
Pilot: Vescovo |
20 | July 5, 2022 | Jim Kitchen | Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool |
Pilot: Tim Macdonald |
21 | July 7, 2022 | Dylan Taylor | Limiting Factor | Eastern Pool |
Pilot: Vescovo |
22 | July 12, 2022 | Dawn Wright | Limiting Factor | Western Pool |
First Black person. Pilot: Vescovo |
References
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