There is hardly a person who hasn't heard of the famous wreck of the RMS Titanic. There are few who have heard of the MIR submersible - a gadget/vessel for making extreme deep dives. There are probably fewer who have heard that now is the time for visiting the Titanic's deepwater gravesite - in the MIR submersible. The New York Times informed us of that possibility today*.
There are a handful of submersibles that can make a dive that deep - almost 20,000 feet down. So you know you won't be making a scuba dive trip to the site of the Titanic wreck. The MIR submersible is so named as it was created in the old USSR - now Russia. The manufacturing was done in Finland - way back in 1987. The MIR vessels are that old but appear to be of super-solid construction.
The construction is mostly of maraging steel that is reported to have a better strength to weight ratio than titanium (per the Wikipedia). You are not expected to pilot one of these submersibles yourself - seaworthy professionals will be running the tour offered by Deep Ocean Expeditions. You and the MIRs will be transported by ship to the deep dive site. But you need to know that your spot on the tour will cost about $60,000 - but is a "once in a lifetime trip".
Also, you needed to make a number of milestone payments before the tours launch in July. There were only twenty spots available. Sadly the milestones for reserving your trip seat have already passed. Worse, these are the last Titanic tours to be offered by Deep Ocean Expeditions. You also need to know that the MIRs are too small to hold your standard portable toilet facilities. You will be supplied with temporary unisex portable bottles. And if you did get lucky and scored a dive seat - don't forget your cameras!
Prior to your trip you may want to purchase a "diving watch" if you don't already have one. You might also contact your physician and your local U. S. Coast Guard prior to your trip. The dive is expected to last over 5 hours - and you will not be allowed to collect specimens.
(* And that information came too late to reserve a tour seat!)
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