Delicate Maneuver

Alvin Expedition Leader Todd Litke maneuvers the submersible off the deck of the research vessel Atlantis while the ship’s chief engineer, JT Walsh, looks on. The large A-frame on Atlantis is specially designed to lift the sub’s 40,000-pound bulk off the deck, swing it out over the water, and gently lower it down—and to reverse the process at the end of a dive. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)