European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 14, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday october 14. 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 telepresence9 at the Ocean Bottom by Gino Delguercio United press International t he discovery and dramatic photograph yol the sunken luxury liner titanic 2 i mile below the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean Marks the Start of a new Era i undersea exploration. No longer must oceanographers descend into the crushing Depths aboard miniature submarines. Now they can Tow platforms containing still and television cameras from surface ships. Riding aboard the platforms will be Small robots which descend to the Ocean floor to take close up 3-d pictures and Bottom samples. It s the beginning of Tel presence of being Able to project your spirit to the Bottom your eyes your mind and being Able to leave your body  said Robert d. Ballard. The american Leader of the French american expedition. The Liny manned submarines which have been the mainstay of Ocean exploration since the Early 1970s, made some dramatic discoveries but Are tediously slow in their ability to map the Ocean Bottom. Scientists must climb aboard dive to great Depths remain on the Bottom Lor Only a Short Lime due to limited oxygen and Energy supplies and then resurface. They have been Able to map Only a tiny part of the Ocean Bol Tom which is larger than the surface of dry land. However what Little oceanographers have Learned offers intriguing evidence for further exploration. The largest geological formation in the world the 40,000-mile mid oceanic Ridge lies below the Pacific Ocean As Well As the Manana Trench almost 7 Miles below the Ocean s surface which is the deepest Gully in the world. The oceans contain More Active volcanoes than the continents and islands and there Are places where hot fluids seep from the Ocean floor creating strange environments where creatures such As 8-foot Worms evolve independently. Ballard expects to Survey a f20-Rnile Section of the mid oceanic Ridge in december. Using this new equipment in 20 Days Ballard will Chart a Section As Large As that which has been explored in the last 12 years. The discovery of the titanic was simply a dramatic demonstration of this new equipment. The French american team searching for the titanic knew the relative location of where the ship went Down from transcripts of the ship s distress Calls. They marked off a rectangle 100 Square Miles in size and began criss crossing it searching Lor the wreck by bouncing sound Waves off the Bottom. French scientists searched 80 percent of the area using Side scan sonar Early in the us Nimr but found nothing this let a 20-Square-mile Region to be searched. The final phase of the search began aug. 15 when the Knorr a 245-foot research vessel from the Woods Hole mass oceanographic nonunion left the azores to Complete the expedition this time they searched with sonar and television cameras using their new Sonny video sled called Argo. Argo is named alter the greek myth in which Jason and the argonauts sailed aboard the Argo in search of the Golden fleece. The modern Argo has its own Jason a robot that can descend from the Argo to collect close up color images and Bottom samples. Jason is still in the research phase and was not used to explore the titanic on this Mission. We were Able to stay submerged for Days on  Ballard said. Something i be never been Able to do in Little submarines. With the Argo system you can sit in Comfort and watch the Bottom go by mile after mile after  when Ballard says Comfort he s Iii e  la Lomg at nit it tag in Iron of his color Telf Jesion at Home sipping a by or. For seven Days he re inn ined in a windowing Shack no larger than a Small office. Chained to the deck of the Knorr for seven Ilys he watched As the cameras were town Over a featureless Bottom within the Shack Are rows of television monitors. Which show video pictures taken by the Arrujo As ii flies 100 feet above the Ocean Bottom the Argo is attached to the Knorr by a Cable several Miles Long scientists guide the Argo by steering the ship irom within the Shack and raising and lowering the Cable on the seventh Day he decided to go Back to his Cabin to rest and that s when his assistants began to see debris from the wreck. The Crew was so excited by the pictures no one wanted to leave the Cabin to find Ballad. Finally someone sent the Cook to look Tor him. Before Ballard could be found the Argo passed directly Over the ship s boiler which had smashed through the ship s Side As it Sank. Once they  that hey knew they had found the titanic Erma Bombeck my husband and i Are the Only two peo ple living in our Homes at present but you would t know  Are clothes and boxes in every closet toys and sports equipment stand ing in Corners and belongings that give Way to a ghostly Leeling that there Are eight or nine people in Resi Dence who Only come out at night. Sometimes i feel like i m sitting in the Middle of miss Habisham s mess in great expectations watching the mice nip at the wedding cake. My kids say i am sitting on a Gold  do they figure that take those eight boxes of old baseball cards behind the linens in the Hall closet. They have assured me that someday those Little babies Are going to be Worth a Fortune. It blows my mind to think what Pete Rose with a Burr haircut will be Worth in five or 10  clothes Lor the 70s. You know How they go in cycles. The 50s Are hot now but in another 20 years it will be their turn and guess who can just go to the closet and be in style you got it. Even the car with the two Flat tires and no Battery that is parked in the Yard has Gold Rillon All Over it. In another 30 years that car will be a classic because Only 380 of them were made and most of them have sell destructed or been torched by the owner. I would have thought that there was no use what Soever for a Box full of Blu books and old spelling tests but one of my kids was appalled. When i make it big you re going to kick yourself for throwing away so much As a phone Doodle. Haven t you read about rotheby s auctions have you any idea what a beatles Lyric on a cocktail Napkin would t ring i m not challenging any of this. What i Don t under stand is the Rule about Why a future classic cannot be moved while it is in the aging process. Would t the halloween masks of Richard Nixon and g. Gordon Liddy be collector s items in they were stored in the kids apartments would the comic bocks from their childhood be Woith any less in their mice nibbled at them instead of our mice no one will Ever Tell me that the smithsonian in Washington. D.c., did t Start out As the Home of a couple with three or four kids who could t Bear to part with their childhood so they said. Hey mom and dad. How about hanging on to this air plane made out of Balsa Wood one Day people will me through Here just to look at this piece of history. And would you store this bicycle without a wheel and this broken Tennis Racket and Lucky gym shoes yesterday. I nearly killed myself when a Box of re Cord albums fell irom a Shell. They Are destined to become priceless. The lyrics Are clean. Sometimes i ask Mysell it i deserve to be this Rich