''Jason'' is a two-body

remotely operated vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (technically ROUV or just ROV) is a tethered underwater mobile device, commonly called ''underwater robot''. Definition This meaning is different from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the ai ...

(ROV) designed, built, and operated by the National Deep Submergence Laboratory of the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it i ...

(WHOI). Construction of ''Jason'' began in 1982 and was first launched in 1988, redesigned in 2002 as the second iteration of the ROV (''Jason II''). The ROV allows scientists and explorers to have access to the seafloor without leaving the deck of a ship. As of 2020, ''Jason'' has completed 147 cruises with over 1200 dives and over 16,000 hours of dive time.

Construction and Equipment

Development on ''Jason/Medea'' began in 1982, with the goal of removing constraints of human operated vehicles such as ''

Alvin Alvin may refer to: Places Canada *Alvin, British Columbia United States *Alvin, Colorado *Alvin, Georgia *Alvin, Illinois * Alvin, Michigan *Alvin, Texas * Alvin, Wisconsin, a town *Alvin (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community Other ...

''. ''Alvin'' only had 3-4 hours of time on the seafloor, required extensive and expensive planning for safety purposes, and required a sophisticated handling system for such a large vehicle. ''Jasons original commission was in 1988, with a deployment at

Hood Canal Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins,Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The first-generation of the ROV was involved in over 200 launches until its retirement in 2001. The second-generation ROV, called the ''Jason II'', had its

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s in July 2002 at Nubbin Seamount in the

Cascadia basin Ocean Networks Canada is a University of Victoria initiative that operates the NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled ocean observatories in the northeast Pacific Ocean and the Salish Sea. Additionally, Ocean Networks Canada operates smaller community-based ob ...

. In 2016, ''Jason'' was upgraded with a new frame,

tether A tether is a cord, fixture, or flexible attachment that characteristically anchors something movable to something fixed; it also maybe used to connect two movable objects, such as an item being towed by its tow. Applications for tethers includ ...

, recovery system, and skids that increased the payload by several thousand pounds. A 10-kilometer (6-mile) electro-optical-mechanical tether delivers electrical power and commands from the ship through ''Medea'' and down to ''Jason'', which then returns data and live video imagery. ''Medea'' serves as a shock absorber, buffering ''Jason'' from the movements of the ship, while providing lighting and a bird’s eye view of the ROV during seafloor operations. ''Jason'' is equipped with sonar imaging as well as video, still, and electronic cameras and appropriate lighting gear. It carries precision navigation equipment and sensors for depth, vehicle attitude (tilt), and altitude from the seafloor. ''Jasons manipulator arms can collect samples that may be put in a small basket attached to the vehicle or, for heavier items, on an attached "elevator" platform that carries them to the surface. ''Jason'', while not requiring an entire ship for operations, does require modular workshop and control vans for operations and maintenance on any vessel. In addition, the ROV requires an overboard handling system such as a crane or

A-frame An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lett ...

, winch system, and data center be installed on the vessel.

Trivia

A prototype of ''Jason'' called '' Jason Jr.'' was used with ''Alvin'' to explore ''Titanic'' in 1986. ''Jason Jr.'' was lost at sea in 1991. ''Jason'' and ''Medea'' were named after the married characters of Greek mythology. In late summer 2021, two other ROVs, ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' and '' Argus,'' were lost when the ship tether broke while deployed off the coast of

Victoria Island Victoria Island ( ikt, Kitlineq, italic=yes) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the List of islands by area, eighth-largest island in the world, ...

. ''Jason'' happened to be fewer than 200 miles away, and managed to recover them within 24 hours of arriving at the other vessel.

Gallery

References

External links

* http://www.whoi.edu/marops/vehicles/jason/index.html
''Jasons history
{{authority control Robotic submarines Unmanned underwater vehicles Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution