Tweet
Adventurer Steve Fossett's remains and plane have likely been found and
now emerging is a story that he had behind the building of a radically new
and different design of a possibly record-making submersible.
Fossett Was Working On Ocean Watercraft
Vessel Would Have Been Able To Dive 37,000 Feet
LAS VEGAS -- A secret project on which adventurer Steve Fossett was working has now been put on hold.
He planned to make a record dive to the bottom of the ocean with a watercraft.
The vessel would be capable of diving 37,000 feet below the Earth's surface.
The designer of Deep Space Challenger said it would have increased ocean exploration
Here's a fairly long article with good, detailed graphic images and a photo
Marin inventor worked on secret sub project for Fossett
Rob Rogers
Article Launched: 10/03/2008 04:47:08 PM PDT
Marin Independent Journal
Two years before he made his fatal flight into the Nevada desert, explorer Steve Fossett asked San Anselmo inventor Graham Hawkes to help him travel to the deepest place on Earth.
"It was his big, big project, the one he wanted kept quiet," said Hawkes, a marine engineer who designs high-tech submarines from his Port Richmond workshop.
Hawkes has gained fame for his series of high-speed winged submersibles, such as the "Super Falcon" submarine he's building for Tom Perkins of Belvedere, the billionaire businessman and owner of the Maltese Falcon mega yacht, which sailed last week into San Franciso Bay.
For Fossett, however, Hawkes created a heavy-duty vehicle capable of withstanding the tremendous pressures of the Mariana Trench, 36,000 feet below the surface.
"The pressure is about 20,000 pounds per square inch, approximately 15,000 times the atmospheric pressure," Hawkes said. "If you look at conventional technologies, the best and strongest materials such as titanium will only get you about halfway down to the ocean floor. We used carbon fiber that's laid down filament by filament under computer control, the same as what's used on rocket motor nozzles."
Fossett's submarine, the "Deep Flight Challenger," would have been "part spacecraft, part airplane and part submarine," Hawkes said. Although the former financier - best known for making the first round-the-world trip in a hot-air balloon - had little experience with submarines, Hawkes
believed Fossett's skill as a pilot, accomplished yachtsman and adventurer would have enabled him to master the required skills in a matter of days.
"Steve is the one person in whom I had absolute trust, no concerns at all," Hawkes said. "He would have adapted to it easily."
Fossett disappeared in September 2007 during a flight over the Nevada desert. On Monday, a hiker near Southern California's Mammoth Lakes discovered personal items belonging to Fossett. Other searchers Thursday found what may prove to be Fossett's remains.
Hawkes said Fossett first approached him about the submarine project 10 years ago.
"We're known as the extreme end of the undersea business," said Hawkes, who began his 40-year career building subs for the British Navy and now creates vehicles for adventure, recreation and exploration.
Although the two were unable to reach an agreement at first, Fossett returned in 2005, and Hawkes began assembling the materials needed to build the craft. His goal was to build a submarine strong enough to withstand the crushing depths of the ocean's bottom, yet lighter and more maneuverable than conventional submersibles.
"In 1960, the U.S. Navy sent a bathyscaphe, the 'Trieste,' down to the bottom," said Karen Hawkes, Graham's wife. "That was essentially a big underwater balloon. No one has been back since. No one has a submersible capable of diving to 36,000 feet - except this one."
The Hawkes say they were four weeks away from launching the "Deep Flight Challenger" when news came of Fossett's disappearance. The submersible is now owned by the explorer's estate, and Hawkes is unsure whether it will ever get to make its historic dive. The couple would not disclose the cost of the vehicle.
"He would have felt as though he was traveling beyond the reach of his fellow man," Hawkes said. "The deep ocean is an incredibly beautiful, peaceful place. You're surrounded by strange life forms, and you're seeing a place on the planet that no one has seen before. If people understood what it was like, it would be crowded down there."
Whether or not Fossett's sub is ever used, Hawkes believes the technology developed at his request will one day prove instrumental in exploring the next frontier.
"This is an ocean planet," Hawkes said. "The U.S. declared a 200-mile exclusive economic zone, which actually doubled the sovereign territory of the nation. It's like there's suddenly a whole continent full of unexplored territory, and it's ready for a Lewis and Clark expedition."
now emerging is a story that he had behind the building of a radically new
and different design of a possibly record-making submersible.
Fossett Was Working On Ocean Watercraft
Vessel Would Have Been Able To Dive 37,000 Feet
LAS VEGAS -- A secret project on which adventurer Steve Fossett was working has now been put on hold.
He planned to make a record dive to the bottom of the ocean with a watercraft.
The vessel would be capable of diving 37,000 feet below the Earth's surface.
The designer of Deep Space Challenger said it would have increased ocean exploration
Here's a fairly long article with good, detailed graphic images and a photo
Marin inventor worked on secret sub project for Fossett
Rob Rogers
Article Launched: 10/03/2008 04:47:08 PM PDT
Marin Independent Journal
Two years before he made his fatal flight into the Nevada desert, explorer Steve Fossett asked San Anselmo inventor Graham Hawkes to help him travel to the deepest place on Earth.
"It was his big, big project, the one he wanted kept quiet," said Hawkes, a marine engineer who designs high-tech submarines from his Port Richmond workshop.
Hawkes has gained fame for his series of high-speed winged submersibles, such as the "Super Falcon" submarine he's building for Tom Perkins of Belvedere, the billionaire businessman and owner of the Maltese Falcon mega yacht, which sailed last week into San Franciso Bay.
For Fossett, however, Hawkes created a heavy-duty vehicle capable of withstanding the tremendous pressures of the Mariana Trench, 36,000 feet below the surface.
"The pressure is about 20,000 pounds per square inch, approximately 15,000 times the atmospheric pressure," Hawkes said. "If you look at conventional technologies, the best and strongest materials such as titanium will only get you about halfway down to the ocean floor. We used carbon fiber that's laid down filament by filament under computer control, the same as what's used on rocket motor nozzles."
Fossett's submarine, the "Deep Flight Challenger," would have been "part spacecraft, part airplane and part submarine," Hawkes said. Although the former financier - best known for making the first round-the-world trip in a hot-air balloon - had little experience with submarines, Hawkes
believed Fossett's skill as a pilot, accomplished yachtsman and adventurer would have enabled him to master the required skills in a matter of days.
"Steve is the one person in whom I had absolute trust, no concerns at all," Hawkes said. "He would have adapted to it easily."
Fossett disappeared in September 2007 during a flight over the Nevada desert. On Monday, a hiker near Southern California's Mammoth Lakes discovered personal items belonging to Fossett. Other searchers Thursday found what may prove to be Fossett's remains.
Hawkes said Fossett first approached him about the submarine project 10 years ago.
"We're known as the extreme end of the undersea business," said Hawkes, who began his 40-year career building subs for the British Navy and now creates vehicles for adventure, recreation and exploration.
Although the two were unable to reach an agreement at first, Fossett returned in 2005, and Hawkes began assembling the materials needed to build the craft. His goal was to build a submarine strong enough to withstand the crushing depths of the ocean's bottom, yet lighter and more maneuverable than conventional submersibles.
"In 1960, the U.S. Navy sent a bathyscaphe, the 'Trieste,' down to the bottom," said Karen Hawkes, Graham's wife. "That was essentially a big underwater balloon. No one has been back since. No one has a submersible capable of diving to 36,000 feet - except this one."
The Hawkes say they were four weeks away from launching the "Deep Flight Challenger" when news came of Fossett's disappearance. The submersible is now owned by the explorer's estate, and Hawkes is unsure whether it will ever get to make its historic dive. The couple would not disclose the cost of the vehicle.
"He would have felt as though he was traveling beyond the reach of his fellow man," Hawkes said. "The deep ocean is an incredibly beautiful, peaceful place. You're surrounded by strange life forms, and you're seeing a place on the planet that no one has seen before. If people understood what it was like, it would be crowded down there."
Whether or not Fossett's sub is ever used, Hawkes believes the technology developed at his request will one day prove instrumental in exploring the next frontier.
"This is an ocean planet," Hawkes said. "The U.S. declared a 200-mile exclusive economic zone, which actually doubled the sovereign territory of the nation. It's like there's suddenly a whole continent full of unexplored territory, and it's ready for a Lewis and Clark expedition."