What's at the bottom of the ocean -- and how we're getting there | Victor Vescovo

翻译人员: Jingdan Niu 校对人员: psjmz mz

David Biello: So Victor, what have you been up to?

大卫·比尔洛（VB）： 维克多，你最近在忙什么？

Victor Vescovo: That's the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean,

维克多·维斯科沃（VV）： 这是大西洋的底部，

and I guess I read too much Jules Verne as a young boy,

可能是因为年轻时读了 太多的儒勒·凡尔纳的作品，

and so for the last four years I've led a team to design and build

所以在过去四年， 我带领了一支团队设计并建造了

what is now the most advanced and deepest diving submersible on the planet,

现在世界上最先进 并且可以下潜最深的潜水器，

and I have the ability to personally pilot it too.

并且我个人也有驾驶它的能力。

So this was us in December of last year,

所以这是我们在去年12月时，

for the first time -- the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

第一次到达大西洋海底。

DB: And nobody's seen that before right?

DB：之前没有人到过那里吗？

That's just you. VV: No.

除了你。

VV：没有，现在每个人都看到了。

Well, now everybody else.

DB: Who does that?

DB：谁做到的？

Like --

比如——

VV: Well, I think everyone has seen the developments in the last 10, 15 years.

VV：我想大家都看到了 过去10年、15年的发展。

You have a bunch of people that have the means to explore outer space,

有一群人拥有了探索 外太空的方法，

like SpaceX or Blue Origin --

比如SpaceX或者Blue Origin——

those guys --

那些人——

and we're going the other direction.

那么我们就选择另外的方向。

这是一个非凡的时代，

So it's a wonderful era

对个人来说，他们可以花费资源

of private individuals spending their resources

to develop technologies that can take us to places

来发展科技，把我们带去

之前从未被探索过的地方，

that have never been explored before,

并且海洋世界是——

and the oceans of the world is --

it's almost a cliché to say it's 70 percent of our entire planet,

用一句陈词滥调的说法就是， 海洋占据了地球70%的面积，

and of that, 95 percent is unexplored.

并且它的95%都是未被探索过的。

So what we're trying to do with our expedition

所以我们和探险队正在尝试的就是

is to build and prove out a submersible

建造并且证明可以到达

that can go to any point on the bottom of the planet

这个地球底部任何一点的潜水艇，

to explore the 60 percent of this planet that is still unexplored.

去探索地球60%仍未被探索的地方。

DB: You need a pretty cool tool to do that, right?

DB：你需要一个非常酷的工具 来完成这个，对吗？

VV: Right.

VV：是的。

Now the tool is the submarine, the Limiting Factor.

这个工具就是潜水器， 叫做Limiting Factor.

It's a state-of-the-art vessel

它是一艘最先进的船，

supported by the support ship, the Pressure Drop.

由支援舰Pressure Drop提供支持。

It has a two-person titanium sphere, 90 millimeters-thick,

它有一个容纳两人 的钛球体，90毫米厚，

that keeps it at one atmosphere,

使它维持在一个标准大气压，

and it has the ability to dive repeatedly

同时它有着反复下潜到

down to the very deepest point of the ocean.

海洋最深点的能力。

DB: So like the SpaceX of ocean exploration?

DB：所以就像是 海洋探险界的SpaceX？

VV: Yeah, it's kind of the SpaceX of ocean exploration,

VV：是，类似海洋探险界的SpaceX，

但是我驾驶我自己的交通工具。

but I pilot my own vehicles.

(Laughter)

（笑声）

DB: Are you going to take Elon or...?

DB：那你会带上Elon或者……？

VV: Yeah, I could take someone down there.

VV：是，我可以带些人下去那里。

So, Elon, if you're listening,

所以，Elon，如果你在听，

I'll give you a ride in mine if you give me a ride in yours.

我可以让你搭个便车， 如果你也让我搭个你的便车。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

DB: So tell us what it's like down there.

DB：向我们描述一下 海底的样子吧。

I mean, we're talking about a place where the pressure is so intense

我们讨论的地方压力如此之大，

that it's like putting an Eiffel Tower on your toe.

那感觉就像是将一座埃菲尔铁塔 放在你的脚尖上。

VV: It's more than that.

VV：比那严重多了，

大约是每平方英寸一万六千磅 。

It's about 16,000 psi.

So the issue is that we have this titanium sphere

关键在于我们的这个钛球体

that allows us to go down to these extreme depths

可以让我们反复下潜到

and come up repeatedly.

极限的深度并且升上来。

That's never been done before.

这之前从来没有人做到过。

The Challenger Deep has been dived twice,

极限潜水曾经有过两次尝试，

once in 1960 and once in 2012 by James Cameron,

分别在1960年和2012年 由詹姆斯·卡梅隆实现，

and they went down and came back up and those were experimental craft.

他们下降并且返回， 使用的是实验性的船。

This is the first commercially certified submersible

这是第一次商业认证的潜水器，

that can go up and down thousands of times with two people,

可以搭载两人上升并且下降数千次，

including a scientist.

其中包括了一名科学家。

We're very proud that we took down

我们非常骄傲， 因为三周前我们拿下了

历史上下潜最深的英国人的记录，

the deepest-diving British citizen in history

just three weeks ago, Dr. Alan Jamieson of Newcastle University

纽卡斯尔大学的艾伦•杰米逊博士

who was down with us on the Java Trench.

和我们一起下降到爪哇海沟。

DB: So, not too much freaks you out, is what I'm guessing.

DB：我猜，这不会让你感到害怕。

VV: Well, it's a lot different to go diving.

VV：这和潜水太不一样了。

If you're claustrophobic, you do not want to be in the submarine.

如果你有幽闭恐惧症， 你并不想在潜水器里面。

We go down quite a distance

我们需要下降很长一段距离，

and the missions typically last eight to nine hours in a confined space.

而任务通常在一个狭窄的空间里 持续八到九个小时。

这和我之前的职业都非常不一样，

It's very different from the career I had previously

比如攀岩，你在一个开阔的空间，

which was mountain climbing where you're in open spaces,

风呼啸而过，非常冷。

the wind is whipping, it's very cold.

潜水则完全相反，技术含量更高。

This is the opposite. It's much more technical.

It's much more about precision in using the instruments

它涉及更多的是精确地使用仪器

and troubleshooting anything that can go wrong.

并且排解一切可能的故障。

但如果在潜水器里真有什么出错了，

But if something really goes wrong in the submersible,

you're not going to know it.

你也不会知道了。

（笑声）

(Laughter)

DB: So you're afraid of leaks is what you're saying.

DB：所以你是指你担心漏水。

VV：漏水的确不是什么好事， 但是如果发生了，

VV: Leaks are not good, but if it's a leak that's happening,

it's not that bad because if it was really bad

也不算太糟糕，因为真正糟糕的是

你什么都不知道，但是——

you wouldn't know it, again, but --

you know, fire in the capsule, that wouldn't be good either,

比如小容器里发生火情， 同样也不是什么好事，

但是这实际上是个 非常安全的潜水器。

but it's actually a very safe submersible.

I like to say I don't trust a lot of things in life,

我更愿意说我并不相信 生活里的很多事情，

但是我确实相信钛，我相信数学，

but I do trust titanium, I trust math

and I trust finite element analysis,

并且我相信有限元分析，

which is how you figure out

能帮你算出

whether or not things like this can survive

是否存在这样的东西，可以

these extraordinary pressures and conditions.

在极限压力和条件下存活。

DB: And that sphere is so perfectly machined, right?

DB：所以这个球体是一个 非常完美的机器，是吗？

This is a truly unique craft.

这确实是一个独一无二的工艺。

VV: That was the real trick --

VV：这里真正的技术是——

is actually building a titanium sphere

制造一个钛球体，

that was accurate to within .1 percent of machine.

精确到小于0.1%的加工精度。

Titanium is a hard metal to work

钛是一种需要处理的硬质金属，

很多人都没解决这个问题，

and a lot of people haven't figured it out,

但我们非常幸运。

but we were very fortunate.

我们卓越的团队能够制造出 近乎于完美的球体，

Our extraordinary team was able to make an almost perfect sphere,

which when you're subjecting something to pressure,

当你对东西施加压力时，

这是你能有的最牢固的几何结构。

that's the strongest geometry you can have.

当我在潜水器里关闭舱门时，

When I'm in the submersible and that hatch closes,

我坚信我将会下去并返回来。

I'm confident that I'm going to go down and come back up.

DB: And that's the thing you double-check --

DB：这是你需要再三检查的事情——

舱门有没有关闭？

that the hatch is closed?

VV：使用潜水器有两条原则。

VV: There are only two rules in diving a submarine.

第一是安全关闭舱门。

Number one is close the hatch securely.

第二是看第一条。

Number two is go back to rule number one.

DB: Alright so, Atlantic Ocean: check.

DB：那么，大西洋：完成。

Southern Ocean: check.

南大洋：完成。

VV: No one has ever dived the Southern Ocean before.

VV：在这之前没有人潜入过南大洋。

I know why.

我知道原因。

它的确很不友好。

It's really, really hostile.

The weather is awful.

天气非常的糟糕。

The word collision comes to mind.

让人想到“相撞”这个词。

But we did that one, yes.

但是我们做到了，是的。

Glad that's over -- DB: Yeah --

非常高兴我们完成了—— DB：是的——

VV: Thank you.

VV：谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

DB: It's like you're racing through it.

DB：就像在赛跑一样。

像凯利提到的，现在是印度洋。

And now the Indian Ocean, as Kelly mentioned.

VV: Yeah, that was three weeks ago.

VV：是的，那是三周前。

我们非常幸运地真正 解开了这个谜团。

We were fortunate enough to actually solve the mystery.

If someone had asked me three weeks ago,

如果有人在三周前问我，

"What is the deepest point in the Indian Ocean?" --

“印度洋最深的点在哪里？”

no one really knew.

没有人真正清楚。

There were two candidates,

有两个备选的地点是，

一个在西澳大利亚附近， 另一个在爪哇海沟里。

one off of Western Australia and one in the Java Trench.

We have this wonderful ship with a brilliant sonar.

我们有一艘非常棒的船 和非常出色的声纳。

我们将两个点都绘制了出来。

We mapped both of them.

我们把着陆器送下底部去确认。

We sent landers down to the bottom and verified.

It's actually in the center portion of the Java Trench,

那个点实际上是 在爪哇海沟的中央部分，

which is where no one thought it was.

是一个过去没人认为 是最深处的点。

事实上，每次我们完成 主要的下潜时，

In fact, every time we've completed one of our major dives,

我们都不得不赶紧 去维基百科更改一下，

we have to run off to Wikipedia and change it

因为百科上面完全是错误的。

because it's completely wrong.

(Laughter)

（笑声）

DB: So it probably takes longer to get down there

DB：那么你下去的时间

than the time you're able to spend down there?

比你在下面待的时间更长些吗？

VV: No, we actually spend quite a bit of time.

VV：没有，事实上我们 在下面待了挺长时间的。

I have four days of oxygen supply in the vessel.

我们给船舱准备了 四天的氧气供量。

If I'm down there for four days,

如果我去下面四天，

发生什么差错我可能就用不到它了，

something's gone so wrong I'm probably not going to use it,

但下降到海洋最深的部位 大概需要三个小时，

but it's about three hours down to the deepest part of the ocean

and then we can spend usually three or four hours

然后我们通常花 三到四个小时在那里，

and then another three hours up.

然后再用3个小时返回上升。

So you don't want to stay in there for more than 10 or 11 hours.

所以你不会想要待在里面 超过10到11个小时，

会觉得有点憋闷。

It can get a little tight.

DB：好的，所以 印度洋的底部也去过了。

DB: Alright, so the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

And this is something that no one besides you has ever seen before --

这是除了你以外 没有人见过的景象——

VV: This is actually imagery from one of our robotic landers.

VV：这是从我们其中一个 机器人着陆器传送的图像。

On the bottom right you can actually see a robust assfish --

在底部右边你还可以 看见一只强壮的深鼬鱼——

that's what it's actually called.

这就是它本来的名字。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

但是你可以从左边 看见一种从来没有见过的生物。

But you can see from the left a creature that's never been seen before.

It's actually a bottom-dwelling jellyfish called a stalked ascidian,

它其实是一种居住在 海底的水母，叫做跟踪海鞘，

and none of them have ever looked like this before.

这种形态十分罕见。

It actually has a small child at the bottom of its stalk,

其实在它的肉茎下面 有一个小水母，

它飘过的样子非常美。

and it just drifted across beautifully.

So every single dive we have gone on,

所以我们进行的每一次下潜，

even though we're only down there for a couple of hours,

尽管我们只在下面待上几个小时，

we have found three or four new species

却发现了三到四种新的物种，

because these are places that have been isolated for billions of years

因为这些地方已经隔离了数十亿年，

and no human being has ever been down there to film them

人类从来没有到达过这里

or take samples.

去拍摄它们或者取样。

And so this is extraordinary for us --

这就是我们的非凡之处——

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

So what we are hoping --

所以我们希望的是——

the main objective of our mission is to build this tool.

我们的主要目的是打造这个工具。

This tool is a door,

这个工具就是一扇门，

because with this tool,

因为有了这个工具，

we'll be able to make more of them potentially

我们能够发展壮大，

and take scientists down to do thousands of dives,

一次又一次带科学家下去，

to open that door to exploration

打开这扇门来进行勘探，

and find things that we had no idea even existed.

发现我们甚至想象不到的生物。

DB: And so more people have been to space than the bottom of the ocean.

DB：所以去过宇宙的人 比去过海底的人多。

You're one of three.

你是三个人中的一员。

You're going to up that number, you're going to give it away.

你将会增加这个人数， 你将会把这个工具分享出去。

VV: Yeah, three people have dived to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

VV：是的，有三个人 下潜到了太平洋海底。

1960年美国的 里雅斯特号带着两个人。

The USS Trieste in 1960 with two individuals.

James Cameron in 2012 with his Deep Sea Challenger --

2012年詹姆斯·卡梅隆和他的深海挑战号——

谢谢你，詹姆斯，非常棒。

thank you, Jim, great sub.

This is a third-generation technology.

这是第三代的技术。

We're not only going to try and go down, actually in two weeks,

实际上在接下来的两周内， 我们不但会试着下潜，

but we're going to try and do it multiple times,

我们还会多尝试几次，

which has never been done before.

这是以前从来没有被尝试过的。

如果我们能够做到， 我们将会证明这个技术

If we can do that, we'll have proven the technology

以及那扇门不但会打开， 它将永远敞开。

and that door will not just go open, it will stay open.

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

DB: Fantastic. Good luck.

DB：太了不起了。祝你好运。

VV: Thank you very much. DB: Thank you.

VV：谢谢。 DB：谢谢。

VV：谢谢大家。

VV: Thank you all.

（鼓掌）

(Applause)