Dr' Robert Ballard

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Dr. Robert Ballard
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When Robert Ballard was young, his favorite book
was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
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He admired the hero, Captain Nemo. He wanted to
go where no one had ever gone before. The book
inspired him to become an explorer.
Captain Nemo
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He grew up near the ocean in San Diego. He loved
the beach, the pier, the boats, the snorkeling,
the bodysurfing, the scuba diving, the deep-sea
diving. He said the ocean was his constant
friend. There were always new things to find.
Pacific Ocean, San Diego, California
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When Robert grew up, he wanted to find the wreck
of the Titanic, the ship that sank in 1912. In
1985, he and his crew set sail to the North
Atlantic Ocean to look for the Titanic.
Titanic
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Dr. Ballard needed special equipment to find the
Titanic.He brought two submarines called Alvin
and Jason Jr.
Alvin
Jason Jr.
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He also brought a sled called Argo. It has
special equipment to help find the wreck. Argo
has a video camera that can send signals to the
surface and make a videotape of the ocean floor.
Argo's pictures are sent up the cable to a video
screen.
Argo
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On September 1, 1985, Argo was searching the
ocean floor. Dr. Ballard and his team were
watching Argos pictures on the monitors.
Dr. Ballard
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The ocean floor looked a little different from
usual. Instead of the usual curves and ripples
of the mud and sand, the scientists saw pieces of
man-made things.
what the scientists saw
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Soon, they saw one of Titanics boilers!
boiler from Titanic
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As soon as Argo found the Titanic, Dr. Ballard
sent Alvin down to get better pictures.
putting Alvin into the ocean
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Then they saw the ship!
bow of the Titanic
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Jason Jr. was smaller than Alvin and could look
inside the Titanic.
Jason Jr
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Dr. Ballard loves to explore the oceans and
discover new things. Like his hero, Captain
Nemo, he loves to go where no one has gone before.
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Dr. Ballard has discovered other important
shipwrecks, including the German battleship
Bismarck, the lost fleet of Guadalcanal, the U.S.
aircraft carrier Yorktown (sunk in the World War
II Battle of Midway), and most recently John F.
Kennedy's boat, PT-109.
Click on the Yorktown picture (above) to go to a
web page that will show you how far down the ship
was.
PT-109
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In 1977, Dr. Ballard used Alvin to discover
super-hot areas on the ocean floor called
deep-sea hydrothermal vents. He discovered
organisms living there that no one knew
existed.The organisms do not get their energy
from the sun. Their energy comes from the earth
itself.
Alvins arm collects a tubeworm at a hydrothermal
vent
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Dr. Ballard went back to the Titanic in 2004. He
wanted to explore some more. He used a robot
submarine called Hercules this time.
Hercules
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They had some problems with their cables. Dr.
Ballard had to solve the problems before he could
send the submarine down.
Dr. Ballard fixes the cable
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National Geographic interviewed Dr. Ballard in
2004. They asked him what was the most important
trait that an explorer needs? He answered,
Curiosity. I'm interested in everything. I love
physics, anthropology, art. The ocean has a
cornucopia of subject matters. It's just
inexhaustible. And I like to understand. I love
coming back with a discovery and sharing it. That
is as exciting as making the discovery. I was
always the kid who ran home to tell my mom what I
had found that day.
Robert, age 7, with his first fish
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When Dr. Ballard came back from the Titanic in
1985, his mailbox was filled with letters from
students wanting to learn about what he found.
Dr. Ballard knew that kids are curious. He set
up a way for scientists to help students learn
about the world.
Dr. Ballard
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He thought about the Greek myth of Jason and the
Argonauts. In their quest for the golden fleece,
they they explored, solved problems and
discovered, just like scientists. He decided to
name his project JASON.
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Resources
http//www.titanic-titanic.com/discovery20of20ti
tanic.shtmlhttp//www.nationalgeographic.com/pat
hways/profiles/ballard.htmlhttp//www.nationalge
ographic.com/channel/titanic/photogallery.htmlht
tp//www.titanic-titanic.com/discovery20of20tita
nic.shtmlhttp//www.homeschool.com/articles/ball
ard/default.asphttp//www.whoi.edu/home/about/ti
tanic_85discovery_ss11.html http//oceanexplorer.
noaa.gov/history/quotes/abyss/abyss.html http//w
ww.nationalgeographic.com/council/eir/bio_ballard.
html http//www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/2
0041110/Feature1.asp Archbold, Rick. Deep-Sea
Explorer. New York Scholastic, 1994.