Crew members bring Sentry back on board the ship during its inaugural test cruise in August 2008. The vehicle is designed to dive as deep as 5,000 meters (3.1 miles). It is powered by more than 1,000 lithium-ion batteries—similar to those used in laptop computers, though adapted for extreme pressures—which allow it to dive up to 20 hours. On this first cruise, it surveyed about 20.5 square miles (53 square kilometers) of seafloor. (Photo by Mitch Elend, University of Washington)[back]
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