searching deeper.

This article discusses the replacement of the Alvin, the first U.S.-built manned deep-ocean submersible after 42 years of profound dives. The pressure vessel operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute is heading toward retirement. In its lifetime, the little submersible has located a lost hydrogen bomb in the Mediterranean Sea, explored deep-sea hydrothermal vents surveyed and helped photograph the Titanic and accidentally gave scientists vital feedback about decay in the deep. The new vessel will be a civilian craft, funded by the National Science Foundation.