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Family Portrait

The National Deep Submergence Facility is a National Science Foundation-funded center operated by WHOI for the benefit of the entire US oceanographic community. It includes three deep-diving assets: the human-occupied submersible Alvin (background), the remotely operated vehicle Jason (left), and the autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry (right). All three are in high demand, so they are almost never in the same place at the same time, except for a brief window recently that permitted a rare NDSF family portrait that includes many of the people (and one of the dogs) who work to keep the vehicles running.(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)