''Argo'' is an unmanned deep-towed undersea video camera sled developed by Dr.

Robert Ballard Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology: maritime archaeology and archaeology o ...

through

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute 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 ...

's Deep Submergence Laboratory. ''Argo'' is most famous for its role in the discovery of the wreck of the RMS ''Titanic'' in 1985. Argo would also play the key role in Ballard's discovery of the wreck of the battleship '' Bismarck'' in 1989. The towed sled, capable of operating depths of 6,000 meters (20,000 feet), meant 98% of the ocean floor was within reach. The original Argo, used to find Titanic, was 15 feet long, 3.5 feet tall, and 3.5 feet wide and weighed about 4,000 pounds in air. It had an array of cameras looking forward and down, as well as strobes and

incandescent light An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxidat ...

ing to illuminate the ocean floor. It could acquire wide-angle film and television pictures while flying 50 to 100 feet above the sea floor, towed from a surface vessel, and could also zoom in for detailed views.

References

Oceanographic instrumentation Unmanned underwater vehicles {{ocean-stub

See also

References