Science & Technology

The Atlantica Expeditions Environmental Monitoring Program will be developed in eight distinct areas of investigation and action.

1. Monitoring of the local environment.

   We intend to set up local environmental monitoring instruments around the general vicinity of the habitat. The purpose of those stations is three fold: to gather data on the local environmental profile, to determine if the environment is changing while we watch and to determine the source of those changes.

2. Developing new environmental monitoring instruments.

   There are many aspects of the marine environment that should be connected to automated monitoring systems. Physical effects such as salinity, current characteristics, visibility, relative particulate distribution and composition, then relating visibility, relative particulate distribution and composition to surface meteorology would be a vital set of integrated data that could be linked to an artificial intelligence system and predict many heretofore unrelated aspects of the marine environment. A system such as this has never been developed before, and it is one of our primary interests in environmental monitoring and research.

3. Developing an aquatic water sampling and analysis system.

   After the particulates are filtered out for analysis, the soluble fraction remains. Within this soluble fraction lies the "devil in the details". In this invisible solution are the invisible dissolved chemicals, pesticides, excess fertilizers, heavy metals and other poisons that have been injected directly into the very blood of the planet. Understanding this fraction is not only essential to the fate of the planet and her human riders, but is long overdue. Without a comprehensive system like this, we are not only blind to an essential data point, we are also grossly irresponsible.

4. Developing an aquatic microbiological sampling and analysis system.

   In the aquatic mix there are many microbes that may cause grievous injury not only to man but also to the environment. While these organisms are "natural", outside the balance of the system, they may propagate out of control causing fish kills, aquaculture death and poisoning and even human death. Such examples are red tide, Alexandrium tamarense and Karenia brevis. Other organisms include Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis, among others.

5. Developing an aquatic marine invertebrate sampling and analysis system.

   The mid-level invertebrate organisms comprise a significant fraction of the ocean life that all larger species harvested for food depend on. A complete picture of the ocean's health and environment is not complete without a full understanding of these organism's populations and health.

6. Developing an aquatic marine vertebrate analysis.

   The top level organisms in the marine environment can only remain there if all the lower level organisms remain ion the proper places. Typically, one of the first indicators of the failing health of the marine environment is the sudden loss of the vertebrate organisms. We intend to catalogues and keep a census records of all vertebrate species near our location. By being in situ, we can monitor more species with greater effectives than any previous monitoring activity, simply because we will have "eyes in place" and equipment that is constantly monitoring, being read and catalogued.

7. Teaching students about these integrated monitoring systems and how they preserve and protect the whole living system.

   By this program, our students are taught invaluable lessons that simply cannot be duplicated on land. While living in the marine environment and directly participating in the environmental monitoring program our students will see and experience the oceans by actually being in them! Here they will see the interrelationships and watch the data as it is integrated on site.

8. Determining the effect of the habitat and presence of human being in the environment and then improve it.

   My father taught me a very important life lesson. He said, "If you borrow somewhat from someone, then return it on better condition that you borrowed it." The same principle can very well hold true for the oceans. If we venture there, then we can do things that will improve the environment. First, we can understand it, which is the first step in improving it. Understanding it is the essential first step to improving it.

After understanding the environment, we can then do things that improve it. While we may not be able to control the environment, we can definitely work to improve it. Or example, one of the most powerful forces of the living marine environment is what is called "surface area". Any clean surface undersea attracts abundant life. That is the principle of the artificial reef. Artificial reefs attract life like as though a life-magnet were place in the oceans. One of our goals is to mount a vigorous series of experiments in effective artificial reef building.

By carefully integrating these eight methods, the Atlantica Expeditions will not only come to understand the environment as never before, but we will even enhance it by our presence and by use of that information that we gain.

SCSAS Habitat

The Scott Carpenter undersea habitat was designed by Dennis Chamberland and operated for a total of 12 weeks during the summers of 1997 and 1998 in Key Largo, Florida. It was formally known as the "Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station" because its primary mission was to demonstrate the ways in which the ocean environment could be used as an analog to the space environment.

The SCSAS was unique in several ways. It was the first habitat ever designed to be launched from an ordinary boat ramp and taken to schools, museums and other public venues, offloaded and toured by the general public. The SCSAS was shown in such a venue at EPCOT Center in Orlando in the fall of 1997 between missions.

The SCSAS was also designed as an undersea laboratory and Principal Investigators conducted a series of experiments in seed viability, in the growth of plants in hyperbaric environments as well as a series of engineering investigations in habitat design.

The SCSAS systems engineer was Joseph M. Bishop.

The Leviathan Habitat

The Leviathan Habitat is the undersea habitat designed specifically for the Atlantica Expeditions world record breaking 80 day mission scheduled to begin in 2009.

The Leviathan is designed for continuous habitation four aquanauts during the extended undersea mission. The Leviathan is designed to maximize functionality in a restricted space. Its floor plan allows for two private aquanaut staterooms as well as a private bath, separate wet room with hot shower and a command and control room that doubles as the community space and entertainment module. The Leviathan features an air handling system with triple redundancy throughout: three air conditioners - dehumidifiers and three air circulators. The habitat's life support system consists of oxygen delivery via air from S3 mounted compressors, dual carbon dioxide scrubbing systems that are also each triply redundant.

The Leviathan's energy is supplied by a surface support system (S3) that features triply redundant air compressors, four independent 3000 watt remotely operated generators and an contingency battery bank. The S3 also consists of four wind generators and a bank of solar panels.

The Leviathan was designed with 21st century electronic throughout including exclusive use of very low energy and low heat producing LED lighting throughout the habitat.

The habitat's communication system features state of the art 21st century digital communications including full cell telephone service, high speed internet, satellite telephone and video links.

The Leviathan is a fully functioning scientific laboratory featuring environmental monitoring and data collection as well as some wet lab capabilities.

The Leviathan will enable three aquanauts to live onboard for a record breaking 80 day non-stop mission as well as allowing for one or two additional aquanauts to join them for 24 to 72 hour missions. Up to six aquanauts will be able to join the mission as two may occupy the adjoining New World's Explorer at any time during the mission.

One of the prime purposes of the Leviathan design is to test systems and procedures for implementation in the much larger Challenger Station habitat scheduled to be launched in 2013 as the first permanent undersea colony off the Florida coast.

Challenger Habitat

"As explained in detail in Dennis Chamberland's book Undersea Colonies: The Future of Permanent Undersea Settlements, the Challenger Station is a 1.6 atmospheres CONSTANT PRESSURE facility that will NOT involve DECOMPRESSION diving..."

The Challenger Station habitat was first envisioned by a League of the New Worlds design team in 1991. During the next three years, the Challenger Station went from ideas to engineering drawings.

If all proceeds on schedule, sometime in 2013, the Challenger Station will be located in the mighty Gulf Stream off the central Florida coast. As soon as it touches down on the floor of the ocean, history will be made and the story of humanity will be fundamentally changed. For the first time in the long saga of humanity, mankind will have forged a permanent home undersea. For the first time, the frontiers of the vast undersea regions of the earth will be opened for permanent human settlement.

The Challenger Station undersea habitat is specifically designed for expansion. We will launch the Challenger Station Main Hub that will enable a full time complement of eight Aquatican aquanauts to make their homes and live and work permanently undersea. As modules are attached, the Aquatican citizens of the world will grow module by module as the first colony of humans expands human by human, family by family.

As explained in detail in Dennis Chamberland's book Undersea Colonies: The Future of Permanent Undersea Settlements, the Challenger Station is a 1.6 atmospheres CONSTANT PRESSURE facility that will NOT involve DECOMPRESSION diving. Just like a moon base, Mars base or any space colony, the permanent facilities of the new world of Aquatica will have a constant, safe, close to earth-normal living environment with lock-out access to the remote and extreme external environment.

Just like in space scenarios, the residents of Challenger Station and our future expansion facilities will commute to and from the base, and perform external duties, in vehicles and suits of 1.6 ATM or less. It is a preeminent paradigm shift that allows the transition from the old-school early days of undersea exploration to a new philosophy that allows the new frontier to be opened where it was not practical before. It fuses the most advantageous precepts of early concepts with a new philosophy of undersea exploration and settlement envisioned by the League of the New Worlds.

The First Principle of Human Exploration:

"In every exploration system, we must require the systems we build to adapt to the human standard rather than expect the human to adapt to the machine or the environment - and in every design activity we will protect the human as a primary objective."
(From Undersea Colonies: The Future of Permanent Undersea Settlements)

DSTII Research Submarine

What is the DST II?

The Dan Scott Taylor II (DST II) is a undersea research submarine currently undergoing enhancements for the Atlantica Expeditions - 44 feet in length, 6 feet in diameter and rated for a crew of four. The submarine was designed for a maximum running depth of 2000 feet with a top submerged speed of 22 knots by Dan Scott Taylor II, its original designer. It has never seen undersea service and is currently slated for its initial shakedown cruise in 2010. "As explained in detail in Dennis Chamberland's book Undersea Colonies: The Future of Permanent Undersea Settlements, the Challenger Station is a 1.6 atmospheres CONSTANT PRESSURE facility that will NOT involve DECOMPRESSION diving..."

What is its history?

In 1969, Dan Scot Taylor traveled to Loch Ness with his own one man submarine, the Viperfish, to look for the legendary creature of the Loch. He had designed and built the Viperfish on his own initiative and using his own funds. He launched the Viperfish into the loch and gave chase to a shadowy creature at an underwater speed of 14 knots only to be outrun by whatever it was. Dan decided what he needed was speed and a depth potential equal to the Loch. So he returned to the states and began work on a larger submarine, the vessel we now call DST II. He worked on the submarine as its designer and only engineer for decades. Tragically, Dan passed away after heart surgery on Saturday, July 23, 2005 and never saw his creation in the water. When Dan passed away, it about 75% complete.

In his will, Dan left his submarine to a young enthusiastic woman whom he had mentored for many years, Vicki Mudd. Vicki took the submarine and stored it before deciding she would like a research concern to use it for marine research, a passion of hers. She was also sure that Dan would heartily approve. We connected with Vicki and after reviewing our goals, she not only contributed the submarine to the non-profit research company that supports our expeditions but we managed to sign her and her husband, Kevin up as members!

We decided to name it the Dan Scott Taylor II because we did not want his connection to the submarine to be lost. While our mission is different than his, it is still an affirmation of both our dreams - to discover what lies beneath and go to where few have dared to go before. The Expeditions received the contribution on Sunday, May 6th, 2007.

What will it be used for?

Dan had a very specific mission in mind when he designed the DST II. He needed speed and depth to accomplish his goals. His plan was to stay submerged in the Loch for hours. Those ideas predicated his design of a sleek, unencumbered speed machine, shown here, just as we received it.

Our mission is somewhat opposite Dan's. We don't care much about speed. Our operational depth will not exceed 200 feet. Our mission duration could be as long as five days with a crew of four aquanauts. So we had a dilemma. We had no choice but to use what Dan gave us and modify it for our mission.

One of the reasons for the modifications is to install a set of main ballast tanks shown to either side of the hull. We also need greater visibility so we added the two larger port and starboard viewports amidships.

This view offers a look at her upper deck. Here we have installed work platforms fore and aft to allow us to work off the ocean floor if we so desire as well as a place to set up and haul down equipment, probes, etc. On either side of the port and starboard thruster tubes aft we have installed heat exchangers, vital of we plan to run five day missions. If you will look at both the fore and aft cones, Dan wisely installed small vertical and horizontal thrusters built in to the cones allow for delicate trim motions underwater. The small gray dots represent 16 small ports in two rows of eight that ring the vessel. Dan had no other choice but to to make them small if he planned a mission to 2000 feet! Here is a photo of Dan peering out one of them to show you their size in reference to the 44 foot long vessel.

In this parting shot, you are able to see the bottom configuration a little more clearly. Forward are four one million candle power lights for working on the seafloor at night. We plan to saturate our crews to 120 feet, open the hatch and live under pressure for 4 days with one day of decompression sitting on the ocean floor before coming back home. Therefore we will have unlimited bottom time while we are there and may need the lights to work at night outside! On either side of the conning tower, we also plan to install cameras to give the DST II skipper a view ahead and behind us if we have to navigate while still buttoned up inside.

The inside of the DST II is also under design revision. We are planning to add four feet of length to bring the passenger cabin to 21 feet, allowing for a separate diver lock out chamber, wetroom, shower and toilet in addition to a small galley, seating and bunk space for four. The DST II will also feature a command and control console as well as a full suite of certified decompression facilities.

The Kou Walter

The Kou Walter is a 24 foot research sailing craft that is used to support many of the surface activities of the Atlantica Expeditions. It is permanently moored on the surface near the underwater site of both the New Worlds Explorer and the Leviathan missions. The Kou Walter is an invaluable asset that will provide a long term surface headquarters and mobile logistics capacity for the entire range of expedition requirements.

The Blue Dominion

The Blue Dominion is a specially designed 40' surface support craft that will provide the entire range of Surface Support System (S3) requirements for the 2009 Leviathan mission. The Blue Dominion features these essential expedition elements:

1. Externally mounted generators and compressors that will supply the four to six aquanauts undersea with power and air.
2. Emergency air bank for the undersea crew.
3. Full storage of CO2 scrubber materials.
4. Storage of crew food supplies including a freezer.
5. The craft also features a fully capable air conditioned Surface Command Center for coordination of mission surface assets and requirements.
6. The Blue Dominion also contains private staterooms for up to four crewmembers and it also features a galley and toilet facilities.
7. The craft also features a suite of communications capabilities including satellite entertainment, satellite telephone and video as well as cellular telephone and high speed internet which is linked to the Leviathan crew.