China manned submersible sets record in Mariana Trench

China set a new record for its manned deep-sea diving operation with a submersible diving to a depth of 10,909 meters in the Mariana Trench yesterday, according to the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The manned submersible “Fendouzhe,” which means “striver” in Chinese, successfully landed on the seabed of the Mariana Trench, the world’s deepest known trench, at 8:12am yesterday.

The submersible, along with the mother ships Exploration 1 and Exploration 2, set off from Sanya, Hainan Province, for the 10,000-meter-deep-sea diving operation on October 10.

The crew worked for 6 hours in data collection and actual exploration when the vessel reached the deepest spot.

That spot, known as the Challenger Deep, is roughly 10,900 meters deep. The water pressure is 110 kPa, equivalent to 2,000 African elephants.

The cabin shell uses titanium, a perfect material with low density and high strength that allows the submersible not only to bear water pressure at 10,000 meters, but also to reduce self mass and expand interior space.