12月1日早间英文播报：Xi hails successful trials of submersible

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The crewof the scientific research ship Tansuo-1, celebrates on Saturday after China'snew deep-sea manned submersible Fendouzhe, or Striver, completed its oceanexpedition and returned to a port in Sanya, Hainan province. The submersibleset a national record by diving to a depth of 10,909 meters in the MarianaTrench during the expedition. [Photo/China Daily]

Breakthroughs in science that made divepossible can also benefit society

PresidentXi Jinping called on Saturday for scientists and engineers working on deep-seaequipment and exploration to keep contributing to China's rise as a strongmaritime country, as well as humanity's understanding, conservation anddevelopment of the oceans.

Xi, whois also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee andchairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in hiscongratulatory letter on the successful completion of the 10,000-meter seatrials of China's new manned submersible Fendouzhe and its return to port inSanya, Hainan province.

Thevehicle, known as Striver in English, set a national diving record of 10,909meters on Nov 10 in the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point of Earth'soceans, located at the southern end of the Mariana Trench in the westernPacific Ocean.

The featshows that China now has the ability to conduct scientific exploration andresearch in the deepest parts of the ocean, which reflects the country'soverall prowess in cutting-edge maritime technologies, Xi said.

Xi calledfor all scientists involved in maritime equipment and exploration to keepscaling new heights and accelerate the nation's progress in becoming a maritimepower, thus contributing more to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Giventhat the average depth of the ocean is about 3,600 to 4,000 meters, withFendouzhe, experts said China has acquired "full ocean depthcapability", meaning it can carry out routine manned expeditions at anydepth of any ocean.

Thisopens a new chapter in China's deep-sea exploration, as it can now venture intounchartered areas under the sea where the water pressure would typically crushany visitors.

This maylead to new discoveries of marine organisms and ecosystems in the mostinhospitable places on Earth, and deepen humanity's understanding of theformation of tectonic plates, along with marine biology, chemistry andconservation.

It canalso unlock access to a wealth of natural resources, such as gold, cobalt andoil buried beneath the ocean floor, as well as the secrets behind the origin oflife and how it can thrive under extreme conditions, they said.

Thebreakthroughs in basic science and engineering that made the dive possible canalso benefit society, such as by improving telecommunication and electronics,developing stronger building materials and longer-lasting batteries, andcreating new manufacturing techniques for major equipment and infrastructure.

Of allthe natural frontiers humanity has conquered, the deep sea remains the mostelusive and exclusive. Thousands of people have climbed Mount Qomolangma, knownin the West as Mount Everest, and around 560 people have gone into space, butfewer than 20 people have dived to the Challenger Deep.

Extremewater pressure is one of the main obstacles during deep-sea exploration. At theChallenger Deep, the water pressure can reach around 11,250 metric tons persquare meter, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationof the United States.

The saltyseawater is another major challenge as it is highly corrosive to theelectronics and batteries essential to keep the submersible functioning.Underwater communication, navigation and tracking can also be extremelydifficult when there are kilometers of water and complicated landscapesblocking signals.

LiuYeyao, a veteran aquanaut and chief designer of Fendouzhe, said he was excitedwhen the vehicle first reached the 10,000-meter milestone during a test dive onOct 27, but because he took many similar dives shortly after, he feltrelatively calm when venturing into the abyss.

"Sincewe were already so familiar with the process, the three of us felt very calm,and I believe this serenity comes from our confidence in Fendouzhe's design andtechnologies," he said.

KathrynSullivan, a former NASA astronaut and NOAA administrator, said landing at thetrench feels like "flying over a living moonscape", as the seafloorsediment was littered with small pockets, holes and mounts, which may be signsof life, though scientists suspect not many large animals can survive down heredue to the extreme environment and lack of food.

"Howextraordinary it is to sit in a small container, dressed as comfortable as Iam, and yet be in such harsh, exotic and extreme environment," she said inan interview with Aspen High Seas Initiative, a global project promoting marineresearch and conservation.

Fordecades, plunging into the ocean's abyss has been a notoriously long anduncomfortable experience. During humanity's first visit to the Challenger Deepin 1960, the two explorers had to curl up inside a steel sphere for nearly fivehours just to reach the bottom, and they only stayed for 20 minutes as one ofthe submersible's outer window panes had cracked.

Canadianfilmmaker James Cameron was reported to have practiced yoga for months toincrease his flexibility in order to make his 2012 solo descent more bearable.

Conditionsimproved last year with the advent of DSV Limiting Factor, a two-personsubmersible that Sullivan and US explorer Victor Vescovo used to make repeateddives to the Challenger Deep.

ButFendouzhe has pushed the boundaries of manned deep-sea exploration by being theworld's first and only three-person submersible with full ocean depth surveyingcapability.

"Thisis largely due to our breakthroughs in basic materials science and engineeringtechniques," said Yang Rui, the scientist responsible for creating thevehicle's cabin and a researcher at the Institute of Metal Research of theChinese Academy of Sciences.

Submersible'scabins are typically spherical because this is the most geometrically symmetricalshape, meaning the water pressure can be distributed evenly across the surface.

However,it is also a tricky shape to work with because increasing its radius can expandthe cabin's volume and surface area several-fold, hence the cabin is generallykept very small in order to cut costs, Yang said. Moreover, the bigger theobject, the harder it is to ensure its structural integrity, especially at weakpoints such as windows, the entrance and welding joints.

"Pastmaterials and technologies can no longer suit our mission requirements, we haveto push the limits of materials science and create something brand new,"he said.

To tacklethese issues, Chinese scientists spent years creating a new titanium alloy thatis lightweight and has the strength and toughness for the job. They alsodeveloped a new welding and manufacturing technique to make the giant titaniumsphere, he said.

"Whenwe talk about the localization of parts and components, we mostly refer tomaking what others had already made via our own efforts," Yang said."Now, we are truly creating something original and new, and Fendouzhe isfull of technologies like this."

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记者：张之豪

播报：Nelly Min

音频编辑：万月英

原文链接：

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202011/30/WS5fc42a71a31024ad0ba9833d_1.html