Thu,Nov 21,2013
China tested its first experimental deep-sea mobile workstation on Thursday, following the success of its first manned deep-sea submersible, Jiaolong, last year.
The model, weighing 35 tons and designed with a capacity of six people, is part of a ten-year experiment by scientists at the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), who put the model through a first-phase test in a pool on Thursday.
The company said that the model, which can operate continuously for up to 18 hours in the deep sea, is a prototype for the nation's future deep-sea workstations.
Thursday's trial led the model through a total of 18 separate tests, including manual operations, automatic control, and reliability tests of the model's power and life-support systems.
The first-phase test will prepare the company to launch a second-phase test of the model, which is expected in 2014 and will feature underwater operations, according to the company.
The tests and technologies will pave the way for the country to develop bigger deep-sea workstations in the future, the company said.
The deep-sea submersible Jiaolong set a record in June 2012 by reaching 7,062 meters deep in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, allowing the vessel to conduct deep sea scientific research and resource exploration of99.8 percent of the world's seafloors．
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