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Deep diving

The new deep-see explorer Nereus is launched from the research vessel Kilo Moana during a June 2009 expedition to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. James Buescher from SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific, which developed the fiber-optic cable link used for real-time communications with the vehicle, tends the umbilical that runs from Nereus to the float pack of the depressor during the launch. (Photo by Catherine Offinger, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)