Mir (deep-sea vehicles). Underwater deep-sea vehicle world The first deep-sea exploration device in the world

Deep-sea manned vehicles "Mir-1" and "Mir-2"

The deep-sea manned vehicles Mir-1 and Mir-2 were built in Finland by the Rauma Repola company according to a joint Soviet-Finnish project. Construction of the devices began in May 1985 and ended in November 1987. In December 1987, the devices were tested in the Atlantic Ocean at depths of 6170 m and 6120 m, respectively. During 20 years of operation, a wide range of deep-sea operations were carried out using the Mir devices. A large volume was carried out scientific research in various areas of the World Ocean. The main direction of research was the study of hydrothermal fields on the ocean floor. The devices operated in 20 areas with hydrothermal fields in the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans. A large amount of archaeological research has been carried out on sunken objects, such as the Titanic (3500 m), Bismarck (4700 m), the Japanese World War II submarine I-52 (5400 m) and others. The devices were used to make deep-sea filming and video recordings for feature and popular science films. More than 10 films have been released, the most famous of which is James Cameron's famous Titanic.

A special place in the history of “Mirov” is occupied by work on the sunken nuclear submarines “Komsomolets” and “Kursk”, during the inspection of which a wide range of scientific and underwater technical problems were solved. To date, each of the Mir devices has made more than 400 dives, 70% of which were made to depths between 3000 and 6000 m. The devices have proven to be highly reliable technical means, capable of solving almost any problem in the depths of the ocean. However, until now, Mir spacecraft have never operated under continuous ice cover. Of course, solving this problem required some modernization of the apparatus and the development of new equipment that would make it possible to successfully carry out this kind of diving. Before moving on to the presentation of material about diving at the North Pole, it is advisable to consider issues related to the design features of the “Worlds” and the innovations that were introduced to perform the very difficult task of descending to the bottom of the North Pole. Many foreign experts call deep-sea manned vehicles mini-submarines. Obviously, this is due to some of their similarities with large submarines both in design and in the method of operation - in free swimming mode under water without rigid or flexible connections (such as cables or cables) with the surface or with a support vessel. The safety of a person’s stay at great depths is ensured, first of all, by a durable hull; the remaining elements and systems of the device are designed to deliver a durable body to a given depth, move underwater and return back to the surface. Most modern GOAs use rechargeable batteries as an energy source. The robust body, individual structural elements and basic components of the systems are combined by a connecting frame into a single structure, which is closed on top by a lightweight body, which is usually made of fiberglass and gives the device a streamlined shape. This is the general design diagram of the habitable vehicle.

Design of the deep-sea manned vehicle "Mir"

immersion depth 6000 m

crew 3 people

speed 5 knots

weight 18.6 t

dimensions 7.8 x 3.2 x 3.0 m

1 habitable sphere

2 lightweight body

3 ballast spheres

4 manipulators

5 retractable instrument rods

6 powerful lamps

7 TV and photo cameras on a rotating device

8 support skis

9 hopper with nickel shot (emergency ballast)

10 side engine

11 high pressure pump for pumping out water ballast

12 hydraulic station with electric drive

13 boxes with 120 volt batteries

14 boxes with 24 volt batteries

15 main engine

16 main engine nozzle

17 wing

18 emergency buoy

From the book “Depth” by A.M. Sagalevich. " Scientific world", 2002

It should be noted that very often deep-sea manned vehicles are called bathyscaphes. However, this is not true. Bathyscaphes were the first generation of autonomous manned vehicles. On bathyscaphes, a light liquid, gasoline, was used as a buoyant material. The bathyscaphe had a huge float, into which up to 200 tons of gasoline were pumped before diving, which during the diving process was replaced by water and the bathyscaphe acquired negative buoyancy. Upon completion of work at the bottom, solid ballast (usually steel shot) was dropped from the bathyscaphe, and it began to float. In deep-sea manned vehicles, solid floating material syntactic is used as a floating material, the basis of which is glass microbeads connected with epoxy resin into a single whole. Syntactic is made in the form of blocks; they can be given different shapes when casting. Thanks to the use of syntactics, GOAs have small dimensions and weight and can be transported to the dive site on board research vessels. To date, there are only four GOAs in the world capable of diving to a depth of 6000 m: one in France (Nautilus), one in Japan (Shinkai-6.5) and two in Russia - Mir-1 and Mir-2". Let us briefly consider the design of the Mir devices. The durable body of the GOA “Mir” is made of steel with a high nickel content. Two hemispheres, manufactured by casting and machined, are connected using bolts. The sphere has three portholes: a central one, with an internal diameter of 200 mm, and two side windows, with a diameter of 120 mm. Portholes provide good review when working underwater. Nickel-cadmium batteries are used as an energy source, replacing the originally used iron-nickel ones. The total energy reserve of the Mir apparatus is 100 kW/hour. The device has three ballast systems.

The main ballast system consists of two tanks made of fiberglass. Their total capacity is 1500 liters. When the apparatus is submerged, the tanks are filled with water, due to which its buoyancy becomes close to neutral. Further ballasting is carried out using a thin ballast system, which allows you to adjust buoyancy within a wide range, making it possible to dive and ascend at speeds of up to 35–40 m/min and hover at any horizon in the water column. When floating to the surface, the tanks of the main ballast system are purged with air, giving the apparatus buoyancy of +1500 kg and ensuring a normal waterline on the wave. The fine ballasting system consists of three durable spheres - two bow and one stern - with a total capacity of 999 liters. As the apparatus dives into these spheres, water is taken in, which makes it possible to regulate its buoyancy. To give the apparatus positive buoyancy, water is pumped out of the durable spheres using special high-pressure pumps.

Thus, the Mir vehicles operate entirely on water ballast, in contrast to foreign deep-sea vehicles, which continue to partially use the principles of bathyscaphes, i.e., discharging solid ballast in the form of cast iron pigs or sandbags. High pressure pumps are equipped with hydraulic drives. The devices have three hydraulic systems. The first, with a power of 15 kW, controls the main high-pressure pump and the propulsion complex of the device. The energy from the batteries is converted using a special inverter into alternating current energy, which powers the electric motor that drives the hydraulic pump. The high-pressure pump and propulsion system are controlled through a system of valves located outside in the oil box and controlled by the pilot from inside the habitable sphere. The second hydraulic system is designed in a similar way, but has less power - 5 kW. It controls all external retractable devices: manipulators, rods, bunkers, etc., a trim pump that pumps water ballast from the bow to the stern spheres and back, thereby ensuring the desired trim angle of the apparatus. In addition, the second hydraulic system controls the second high-pressure pump, which is used as an emergency pump: in the event of failure of the main pump or the first hydraulic system, the second pump allows pumping out water ballast and ensuring the device floats to the surface. The third hydraulic system is emergency; it makes it possible to reset some parts of the apparatus in the event of an emergency. emergency situation. The hydraulic pump in this system is driven by an electric motor. direct current, which is powered directly from the main batteries of the device or from an emergency battery. It should be noted that the reset of individual elements of the apparatus in the event of an emergency can also be carried out from the second hydraulic system. The following elements can be dropped from the Mir device.

First of all, these are protruding parts of the structure (with which the device can catch on cables, cables, etc. at the bottom): the main and side movers; wing; manipulator hands (if something is taken in the hand, but the mechanism for opening it does not work); an emergency buoy that comes out to the surface after recoil from the vehicle on a thin nylon cable 8000 meters long; in addition, the lower battery box of the main battery, weighing about 1000 kg, can be dropped. The Mir spacecraft also have an emergency ballast system (mentioned above as the third ballast system). Two rigid fiberglass containers contain 300 kg of nickel shot, held by electromagnets, the removal of tension from which allows partial or complete release of the shot and gives the apparatus positive buoyancy. An important part of the apparatus is the propulsion complex. The main stern propulsion unit with a power of 12 kW controls movement in the horizontal plane, providing rotation of the vehicle within ±60°. Two side thrusters with a power of 3.5 kW each have a rotating device that allows them to be rotated in a vertical plane within 180°; Thanks to this, it is possible to carry out vertical movement of the device while it is moving forward on the main mover, as well as in a horizontal plane in the event of a failure of the main mover. This design of the complex provides flexible control of the device, giving it good maneuverability, which is very important when working near the bottom in difficult terrain or on bottom objects complex configuration. Inside the habitable sphere during the dive, normal atmospheric pressure is maintained and gas composition air. The life support system includes oxygen cylinders with dispensers, through which the atmosphere inside the sphere is replenished with oxygen, and a carbon dioxide collector with replaceable cassettes filled with a CO 2 absorber (usually lithium or potassium oxide hydrate). Fans constantly drive air through a carbon dioxide absorber, as well as through a special filter of harmful impurities filled with activated carbon and palladium. This way the atmosphere in the cabin is cleaned. The content of various components in it is monitored using special indicators that show the percentage of oxygen, dioxide and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. There are also monitors for pressure, temperature and humidity inside the cabin. GOA "Mir" is equipped with modern underwater navigation equipment. It allows you to determine the exact position of the vehicle under water relative to bottom hydroacoustic beacons, the installation and calibration of which is carried out from on board the vessel according to data from the satellite navigation system. The pilot can observe the trajectory of the vehicle underwater on the display, which creates undoubted convenience for controlling it during search operations, reaching bottom objects, etc. The underwater hydroacoustic communication system provides wireless voice communication with the vessel at a distance of up to 10 miles. Hydrolocation equipment allows you to search at the bottom for small objects up to a few tens of centimeters in size. The devices are equipped with hydrophysical and hydrochemical sensors, special devices for sampling and other scientific equipment. Two identical manipulators (right and left) with seven degrees of freedom make it possible to select various samples - from very fragile to large and heavy ones weighing about 80 kg. GOA "Mir" is equipped with modern video equipment for underwater video filming, as well as underwater photo systems. The devices are equipped with external light and radio beacons, which allow them to be detected on the surface after surfacing: the radio search system on the support vessel receives signals from the radio beacon and indicates the direction to the device’s ascent point. Diving at the North Pole under a continuous ice cover required special preparation of the Mir devices: modernization of some systems, development of new equipment that would ensure the exit of the GOA from under the ice roof into a small hole on the ocean surface.

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Probably, there is no need to list the merits of the MIR deep-sea manned vehicles and one of their creators - scientist and Hero of Russia Anatoly Mikhailovich Sagalevich. This is the largest number of dives to the Titanic in history, and unprecedented scientific discoveries new species of animals, and dives to “Kursk”, “Komsomolsk”, “Bismarck”, and research into “black smokers”... This list can be continued for a very long time, enough for a whole book of achievements.

It would seem that here it is, a ready reason to be proud of the country’s achievements. Research, discovery - it's wonderful, we must continue to dive in! But some misunderstanding creeps into your head when you find out that for the fifth year now these miracles of technology have been idle. Even more questions arise when you start to learn their real history.

Take a look, for example, at this Chinese machine called Jiaolong. It was built in 2010 and is capable of diving to a depth of 7,000 meters. Doesn't remind you of anything?

GOA "Jiaolong", a deep-sea manned vehicle capable of diving to 7,000 meters - deeper than any other in the world

Indeed, it is incredibly similar to the Russian MIRs. Shape, characteristics and even color. And this is not surprising, because it was their design that was taken as the basis, since it was recognized as one of the most advanced and most successful. The main technical consultant was none other than Anatoly Mikhailovich Sagalevich.

It is interesting that while the unique “tandem” system of “MIRS”, which has no analogues in the world, has been idle for five years now, Chinese officials have begun to fully realize the importance of deep-sea research, because there, at a depth of many thousands of meters , there are truly countless natural resources. Having built the Jiaolong apparatus, they became the owner of the deepest submersible in the world. Hundreds of millions of dollars are allocated to the research program, and these are public funds. An extensive training program for deep-sea pilots has been launched, the prestige of whose profession is now comparable to that of an astronaut. Every deep sea scientist is the pride of the country, the hero of the country. Once upon a time it was the same in the USSR.

Chinese pilots proudly hold the Chinese flag before the Jiaolong test dive

Against this background, it is worth briefly recalling the history of “MIRs” in modern Russia. Since 1991, not a single large-scale expedition has been organized with government money. None. All research expeditions were organized and financed either by individuals and companies, or by foreign organizations.

Remember even the most famous of them - for example, a series of dives on Lake Baikal in 2008-2010. All three expeditions were organized with the private money of one of the State Duma deputies - he’s just an enthusiast too. With his own (and not state) money, the first person in the state dived into Lake Baikal in 2009.

Vladimir Putin during a dive to Lake Baikal

And it’s worth remembering probably the most famous (and even historical), incredible in its complexity, expedition of “MIRS” to the North Pole - Arctic 2007. During it, for the first time in the history of mankind, it was possible to reach the real point of the North Pole, which is located at a depth of more than 4000 meters. When this point was reached, a small Russian flag was placed at the bottom. Of course, this was not an application for ownership of Russia North Pole, as many tried to imagine, it was a purely symbolic act. But still a reason for pride, isn’t it? And indeed, all the country’s media broadcast about this event day and night, fanfare sounded, officials did not leave the screens.

Arthur Chilingarov, Anatoly Sagalevich and Vladimir Gruzdev before the historic dive

Installation of the Russian flag at the geographic North Pole

Now comes the fun part. This expedition of “national pride” was not organized with government money. And not even Russian ones at all. It was funded largely by two foreign nationals - Swedish scientist and philanthropist Frederik Paulsen and Australian researcher Mike McDowell. It's probably as if Yuri Gagarin's flight was paid for by American patrons. Such is the “spiritual bond”.

Swedish citizen Frederik Paulsen, who financed the Russian expedition Arctic 2007

Similarly, with foreign funding, MIRs were able to stay afloat for so long. All this is entirely the personal merit of Anatoly Mikhailovich Sagalevich, whose diplomatic talent helped save and use the MIR devices for 20 years. But its possibilities are not limitless. For several years now, the scientist has been trying to achieve acceptable funding for the deep-sea program. More than once he even addressed the head of state. The answer is only excuses and open-ended promises. And time goes by, opportunities disappear. MIRs must undergo a full technical inspection every 10 years. The last one was held in 2005. In 2015, a new one was needed, but it never took place due to lack of funding - now MIRs may not be released into the ocean.
Pilots are not immortal either. The youngest is currently over 60 (!) years old. But no new ones are expected, because there is nothing to train them on, and for such a “big” salary, which of the young people will agree to devote their lives to science?

Presentation of the Hero of Russia star to Anatoly Sagalevich, 2008

In this situation, all that remains is to sigh sadly and go help where experience and knowledge are in demand. This is why the Jiaolong apparatus is so similar to the MIR - the Chinese incredibly value the experience and help of A. M. Sagalevich in creating the apparatus. The scientist himself regularly visits various shipyards in many countries where new and new devices are being built - the knowledge of a specialist of this class is worth its weight in gold all over the world. Except, however, Russia.

Chinese authorities have realized that the race to explore great depths (the so-called ultra-abyssal) is again gaining momentum. Construction of new devices is planned in the USA, Japan and Great Britain. Therefore, Chinese officials decided not to stop there - with the Jiaolong device - and went further, much further.

At the moment, the Scientific Center for the Study of the Ultra-Abyssal Zone at the Shanghai Oceanographic University is developing an unprecedented deep-sea vehicle called “Caihongyu” - “Guppy” worth 80 million dollars. This is a manned vehicle that will be capable of descending to the bottom of the Mariana Trench - to a depth of more than 11,000 meters.

GOA "Caihunyu" - "Guppy", which will descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 2019

There have been only two such devices in the entire history of mankind - Trieste in 1953 and Dipsy Challenger in 2012. But most importantly, this will not be just a bathyscaphe, capable of only rising and falling, like the two above-mentioned devices, it will be a full-fledged scientific apparatus , designed for a crew of three and capable of performing the entire range of scientific deep-sea research - an analogue of the MIRs. Construction is planned to begin this year, and immersion into the depression is planned for 2019. Construction of a carrier vessel worth $220 million has already begun specifically for the Guppy. It is safe to say that as soon as the Chinese finish the device and put it on the carrier ship, the undisputed palm will go to them.

One of the co-authors of the project is (as you might have guessed) Anatoly Mikhailovich Sagalevich. He is one of the main technical consultants and regularly visits Shanghai. And what’s most interesting in this story is that Anatoly Mikhailovich understands that this device is unique, and owning one gives incredible opportunities. Therefore, even at the very first stages of the creation of “Guppy,” the scientist and Hero of Russia turned to Russian officials with what seemed to be a more than excellent proposal - to build, together with the Chinese, a second similar device, but from the Russian side. Moreover, the Chinese themselves supported this idea with interest. The result would be a new deep-sea “tandem” - an analogue of the “MIRS” - which would truly have no equal in the world; it would be the pinnacle of technical achievements. And you must agree that exploring the ocean with the “brotherly people of China” is a very good option, especially in the current conditions.

But... (how I wish there was no “but” in this place)

The Russian side refused.

Yuri Gagarin will not fly into space.

The only thing left to add are lines from A. M. Sagalevich’s song “The Ballad of the Institute”:

After all, there used to be times when a rich country
We were allowed to sail to any end of the Earth.
Well, now there is no budget, we are always looking for an answer
“Where should we put the big ships?”

And there is an excellent steamer, even if it runs quietly,
But after filming Titanic, he became popular in the world.
We need to remove the MIRs from it, put it on three-year charter,
So that he can pump us money from tourists.

“Why does a scientist need a salary? He will write a report anyway,
After all, Lomonosov drank only bread kvass.
Reduce staff by half! Turn science into business!” —
An order came from someone's office.

Without looking at this approach, we break into the campaign,
And we conquer both Baikal and the Poles.
Let's make a movie underwater and remember Lyublino
And we continue to firmly believe in miracles.

Anatoly Sagalevich - Ballad about the Institute

Polishchuk Maxim (

Research deep-sea manned vehicles (GOV) for oceanographic research and rescue work. Bathyscaphes have a diving depth of up to 6 kilometers.

Currently, the Mir-1 apparatus is located as an exhibit in the Kaliningrad Museum of the World Ocean, and Mir-2 is based on board the research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh.

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 5

✪ To the depths of Baikal. part 1 (of 2)

✪ Mariana Trench. Diving to the “bottom of the Earth”. James Cameron. National geographic 11/21/2016

✪ Secrets of deep-sea worlds. Brainstorm.

✪ Deep-sea vehicles for exploring the bottom of the World Ocean. Sagalevich A.M.

✪ Underwater vehicle

Subtitles

General

The terms of reference for the creation of the vehicles were prepared by the head of the Department of Deep-Sea Manned Vehicles of the USSR Academy of Sciences, project manager I. E. Mikhaltsev. Basic ideas on the design of the device, its structure individual systems, units, elements for completing scientific and navigation equipment belong to I. E. Mikhaltsev, his deputy A. M. Sagalevich and the chief engineer of the project from the Finnish shipbuilding company Sauli Ruohonen, who headed the group of Finnish engineers and technicians who took part in the construction of the devices.
The base ship, the research vessel “Akademik Mstislav Keldysh” was built in 1981 at the Finnish shipyard (Finnish) Hollming in the city of Rauma. Since 1982, it has been used as a support vessel for the underwater manned vehicles "Pysis-VII" and "Pysis-XI". In August-October 1987, it was converted into a support vessel for two manned underwater vehicles "Mir". Deep-sea vehicles were manufactured in 1987 by the Finnish company (fin.) Rauma-Repola Oceanics, and the contract for the creation of the devices was signed on May 16, 1985, and the acceptance certificate was signed on December 17, 1987, after successful test dives in the Gulf of Bothnia and the Atlantic ocean to a maximum depth of 6170 meters (“Mir-1”) and to a depth of 6120 meters (“Mir-2”). This is how a unique deep-sea research complex was created, combining a ship and two Mir exploration vehicles, equipped with navigation equipment and scientific instruments for conducting a wide range of oceanological research.
Both the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh and the underwater vehicles are under the control of the P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Of great importance for scientific research is the working depth of the “Worlds” - 6000 meters, thanks to which these devices can reach the depths at which 98.5% of the bottom of the World Ocean is located.

Story

The history of “Worlds” dates back to 1970, when Doctor of Technical Sciences I. E. Mikhaltsev formulated the concept of the indispensability of a human researcher in a new unfamiliar environment, in comparison with the operator of any programmable robotic devices. Working as the head of the Department of Deep-Sea Manned Vehicles of the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, he was the author of technical specifications and the head of work on the creation and testing of manned research vehicles "Pysis" with a diving depth of up to 2000 m (1970-1976) and manned vehicles "Mir" - up to 6000 m (1979-1987), convincing the leadership of the Academy of Sciences of the need to allocate funds for the construction of one deep-sea vehicle.

The first attempts to order underwater vehicles were unsuccessful: joint work with a Canadian company in 1980 encountered a number of technical problems - it was not possible to create a chamber for the crew that could withstand 600 bar made of titanium, and above all political obstacles: the United States saw in such an order a violation of the COCOM treaty ban on the export of advanced technologies to the USSR. In 1982, the USSR Academy of Sciences offered an order to three other possible manufacturers. When Swedish and French companies refused the offer, the company remained Rauma-Repola with its subsidiary Oceanics- Finland did not sign an agreement banning the export of advanced technologies to the USSR. The peace treaty prohibited the ownership and construction of submarines, but this paragraph concerned only military equipment, and the ordered devices were scientific research ones. According to Pekka Laksella, the then head of the Finnish company, permission to export to the USSR was obtained only because COCOM officials did not believe that anything would come of such an undertaking. When it became clear that the engineering problems had been solved, there was an uproar about how such technology could be sold to the USSR and Laxella had to visit the Pentagon several times.

Diplomatic crisis involving the United States

The US General Embassy in Helsinki was aware of the progress of work on the deep-sea chambers at Rauma Repola from the very beginning. “They still had a technically illiterate group that could not evaluate the project correctly. The project was allowed to continue - the Americans were absolutely sure that casting a sphere from steel would not be possible. All previous spheres were welded from titanium,” said the former CEO in 2003 Rauma-Repola Tauno Matomäki. "We created an enterprise Rauma-Repola Oceanics Oy, - said Tauno Matomäki at the same time, - only to sacrifice this subsidiary, and not to put the entire company at risk if things go badly.” And so it happened. The subsidiary was created in 1983, and dissolved shortly after the creation of Worlds in 1987. Having gained wide popularity, the company Rauma-Repola did not receive the expected orders. The entrance fee to the new area turned out to be too expensive - the CIA and the Pentagon insisted that all enterprises that did not adhere to American recommendations were subject to bankruptcy, without exception.

The United States tried to secretly prevent the export of ready-made devices to the USSR. The CIA suspected that the devices could be used in US territorial waters for reconnaissance.

Design and manufacturing

The main and problematic place in the bathyscaphe is the gondola attached to the float. Unlike a balloon, it can be lighter than water, but in practice, deep-sea vehicles must have very thick walls, and not a single bathyscaphe can do without a float. Trieste has a huge float, filled with gasoline, which can leak. The Mirs have a float of only 8 cubic meters, it is solid and forms a streamlined body that cannot be “lost.”
The production of apparatus spheres that can withstand high pressure was the merit of the company's engineers Repola and applications new technology. This was possible thanks to the hard work of the entire design team and high level metallurgy. The firm signed the contract before the final technology was known and took on the risk from both a technical and commercial point of view. A German patent has been applied for, but not yet approved, for the processing technology.

The two-meter spheres of the crew for deep-sea vehicles must be as light as possible so that the density of the entire device is close to unity - the density of water. Then the device can be controlled autonomously at any depth. In practice, this means that the sphere must be made of a particularly strong and lightweight metal. Titanium is good for its low density, but its fracture toughness is still less than that of steel. Therefore, titanium walls must be twice as thick as steel ones. Titanium also cannot be cast in large enough pieces to assemble a sphere without welding.

Rauma-Repola immediately followed the path of creating a steel sphere - the company had suitable foundry equipment at the Lokomo enterprise. The material chosen was maragen steel, developed in the 1960s by the US Navy, whose strength/density ratio is 10% better than titanium. The alloy contains almost a third of cobalt, the addition of nickel, chromium and titanium. The titanium proportion has a decisive influence on impact strength. This type of steel is commonly used to create vehicle shafts.

In 2004, both devices underwent a complete overhaul and testing of the deep sphere (the main part of the “Worlds”).

Deal

The Worlds project, costing 200 million Finnish marks, was a good deal for both the manufacturer and the customer, and was more successful than anyone could have imagined. The project did not attract attention of funds mass media and was practically kept secret until the finished devices were delivered to the customer. Only after that Rauma-Repola released technical data. The company's reputation as a manufacturer of "Worlds" is still at its best. According to Tauno Matomäki, international concerns are interested in deep-sea vehicles capable of diving to 12,000 meters. It is technically possible to build such an apparatus, but politically it is not. It can be bought, but it is problematic to sell - the United States, after the mistake with the Mirs, is carefully monitoring this area and all American deep-sea vehicles belong to the military department.
This prediction was partially destroyed by James Cameron, who built the first private bathyscaphe, Deepsea Challenger, in 2012, although he carried out the work in secret in Australia.

Design

Frame

The spherical nacelle of the devices is made of martensitic, highly alloyed steel, with 18% nickel. The alloy has a yield strength of 150 kg per mm² (for titanium it is about 79 kg/mm²). Manufacturer: Finnish company Lokomo, part of the Rauma Repola concern.

Power point

Nickel-cadmium batteries 100 kWh.

Crew accommodation

The crew of the GOA "Mir" consists of three people: a pilot, an engineer and a scientist-observer. The observer and engineer lie on side banquettes, the pilot sits or kneels in a niche in front of the instrument panel.

Rescue system

The device’s unique emergency rescue system consists of a syntactic buoy released by the crew, with a 7000 m long Kevlar cable attached to it, along which half of the coupling is lowered (about the same as a railway automatic coupler). It reaches the device, then automatic coupling occurs and the device is lifted on a long power cable, 6500 m long, with a breaking force of about ten tons.

Comparative assessment

Use in cinema

The devices were used in the filming of James Cameron's films "Titanic", "Ghosts of the Abyss: Titanic" in 1997 and the Bismarck Expedition in 2002. Participation in the filming of director James Cameron's film "Titanic", which premiered in 1997, brought "Worlds" wide fame. Subsequently, with the help of the Mir deep-sea submersibles, several more feature and popular science films were created, thanks to which people saw the life of the ocean depths.

Diving to sunken submarines

"Mirs" examined the sunken submarine "Komsomolets". In the area of ​​the sinking of the Komsomolets nuclear submarine in the Norwegian Sea, seven expeditions were carried out in the period 1989-1998, during which the Mirs made 70 dives to a depth of 1,700 m. Annual work made it possible to assess the general situation and make a decision to preserve the bow of the boat. Komsomolets" using the latest deep-sea technologies that have never been used before.

At the end of September 2000, the devices were used to inspect the Kursk nuclear submarine. As a result of the “Mirov” dives, the cause of the death of the nuclear submarine cruiser was established, a set of measures was developed to eliminate the consequences of the accident, and a decision was made to raise the vessel.

Ocean exploration

According to the designer and commanders of the Mir-1 and Mir-2 satellites I.E. Mikhaltsev, A.M. Sagalevich and E.S. Chernyaev, the Mir spacecraft with a working diving depth of 6000 m cover 98.5% World ocean. With their help, on the ocean floor you can explore hydrotherms (or “black smokers” - hot springs on the ocean floor, located mainly in the areas of mid-ocean ridges, at a depth of 2-4 km), look for minerals and rare earth elements.

With the use of GOA "Mir-1" and "Mir-2" in the period up to 1991, 35 expeditions were carried out in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.

Using the Mir submersibles, hydrothermal vents were explored in the areas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. On August 2, 2007, for the first time in the world, these devices reached the bottom of the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole, where the Russian flag and a capsule with a message to future generations were placed. The devices withstood a pressure of 430 atmospheres.

Baikal exploration

Since July 2008, both devices worked for two years on Lake Baikal. On this lake they spent their first deep sea diving V fresh water. On July 30, 2008, the Mir-2 spacecraft collided with a floating platform and sustained damage to the left propeller. In 2008, 53 dives were carried out in the middle and southern basins of the lake, in which 72 hydronauts took part. The nature of the appearance of oil slicks on the surface of the lake was investigated, as well as animal world Baikal. Four levels of ancient “beaches” have been discovered, meaning that Baikal was filled gradually. At a depth of 800 meters, three boxes with ammunition from the times were found civil war, 7 rounds were raised. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin dived to the bottom of Lake Baikal on the Mir deep-sea submersible on August 1, 2009.

Current state

Notable commanders

In culture

• Mir devices are heroes documentary film James Cameron "Strangers from the Abyss" 2005.

By order of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Russia, the design of a bathyscaphe began, capable of diving to a depth of eleven thousand meters, which has not yet been conquered by mankind.

Not a single deep-sea vehicle existing today is capable of swimming so deep - the maximum depth for them (the Russian “Mir” too) is considered to be 6.5 thousand meters.

This project should be implemented during 2009-2016 within the framework of the target program “Development of maritime civil engineering”. According to the customer’s calculations, the cost of the project, including the design and development of a habitable bathyscaphe, is 63 million rubles. The location of this deep-sea vehicle will be a research vessel, the creation of which is also currently being developed.

The crew of the bathyscaphe will be 2-3 scientists, the maximum diving depth is planned to be 11 thousand meters, the maximum displacement is 33 tons. The device will be able to remain under water for three days.

Simultaneously with the order for the deepest-sea vehicle, the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Russian Federation placed an order for the design of a research vessel that will carry a manned deep-sea vehicle. The crew of the research vessel is 80 people; in the hold of the vessel there will be a supply of fuel and food for one hundred daily autonomous trips.

In the order, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Industry noted that the creation of such a complex should “establish Russia’s authority as a great maritime power and at the same time a leader in deep-sea shipbuilding.”

The ministry is convinced that this device can be built at shipyards owned by the United Shipbuilding Corporation. But USC itself does not comment on this statement, explaining that it is not aware of what is happening. The project specifications require that the bathyscaphe be equipped with the latest navigation and radio equipment, a reliable and modern security system. Among other things, this complex will provide the opportunity to significantly increase the number of domestic scientific research programs, allowing the most complex operations to be carried out at extremely great depths.

— Manned deep-sea vehicles have a very wide range of applications - from collecting information and conducting various scientific measurements, to work related to eliminating the consequences of accidents under water and laying underwater communication or technological systems. The creation of a bathyscaphe that can dive six kilometers today costs an average of $50 million, and in this case we are talking about 11 kilometers, said Anatoly Sagalevich, head of the laboratory of deep-sea vehicles at the Institute of Oceanology Russian Academy Sci. He believes that before starting to create new deep-sea vehicles, it is necessary to fully use those that are available.

“Our Mirs are recognized as the best devices all over the world, and yet there is not a long queue for their use,” says the scientist. — The maintenance of the Akademik Keldysh vessel, which is the base for two Mir spacecraft, costs 40 thousand dollars a day, which is 15 million dollars a year. Perhaps, on a national scale, this is not so much, but if we take into account the fact that our laboratory has been looking for work on its own for twenty years, then the numbers do not look so small.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry notes that, in addition to scientific use, the World Ocean is now actively used for laying oil and gas pipelines, cable routes and various platforms, so the new deepest-sea vehicle will definitely not be left without work.

Today, only a few states have deep-sea vehicles:

Russia has Mir-1 and Mir-2 (diving depth up to 6.5 thousand meters), France has Nautile (6 thousand meters), Japan has Shinkai-6500 (with a record depth of 6527 meters), China - a copy of the "Mir", which has already been tested at a depth of 5 thousand meters.

There is already a device that can dive to 6.5 thousand meters, which will allow exploring 98% of the bottom of the World Ocean. Therefore, creating devices that can descend to 11 thousand meters is an impractical idea,” Sagalevich complains. - People have already been to such depths - for example, the French sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 1960, and they did not find anything worthy of attention except sedimentary rocks there.

Neither Soviet nor Russian industry has ever produced such devices. Even the "Worlds" were built in Finland - by the Rauma-Repola Oceanics company.

“Russian shipbuilding is not able to build such a device today,” says Alexey Bezborodov, general director of the InfraNews agency. - This body is not just a blank with a porthole made of titanium - it is a body that can withstand enormous pressure, and building such a device is not a very big problem. The main problem lies in the vessel that must support the operation of this apparatus. But our industry has never built such ships. Even during the Soviet era, almost the entire domestic deep-sea fleet was foreign: from the Yuri Gagarin to the Mstislav Keldysh.

"Mir" is a series of Russian research underwater deep-sea manned vehicles (GOV) for oceanographic research and rescue operations.

They have a diving depth of up to 6 km. Based on board research ship "Akademik Mstislav Keldysh".

History As of 2008, the fleet of the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences includes two deep-sea manned underwater vehicles of the “Mir” type: GOA “MIR-1” and “MIR-2”.
They were built in Finland by the Rauma-Repola company in 1987, under the scientific and technical guidance of scientists and engineers of the IORAS. P. P. Shirshova.
The design of the GOA began in May 1985 and was completed with the construction of the devices in November 1987, and already in December 1987, factory deep-sea tests of the devices were carried out in the Atlantic Ocean.

The diving depth was 6170 m for MIR-1 and 6120 m for MIR-2. The carrier vessel of the GOA is the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, built in 1981 in Finland and converted into a support vessel in 1987. From 1987 to 1991, 35 expeditions were carried out in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans using the Mir-1 and Mir-2 geothermal exploration vehicles.
The devices were used in the filming of James Cameron's films Titanic, Ghosts of the Abyss: Titanic in 1997 and Expedition Bismarck in 2002.
Using the Mir submersibles, hydrothermal springs were explored in the areas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and the sunken submarine Komsomolets was also examined. Seven expeditions were conducted to the area where the nuclear submarine Komsomolets sank in the Norwegian Sea between 1989 and 1998. At the end of September 2000, the devices were used to inspect the Kursk nuclear submarine.

Both the vessel “Akademik Mstislav Keldysh” and the underwater vehicles belong to the Institute of Oceanology named after. P. P. Shirshov RAS.

The idea of ​​the devices and the initial design were developed at the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Lazurit Design Bureau. Deep-sea vehicles were manufactured in 1987 by the Finnish company Rauma Repola. The ship "Akademik Mstislav Keldysh" was built in 1981 at the Finnish shipyard Hollming in the city of Rauma.
On August 2, 2007, for the first time in the world, these devices reached the bottom of the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole, where the Russian flag and a capsule with a message to future generations were placed. The devices withstood a pressure of 430 atmospheres.

Design

The body of the devices is made of martensitic, highly alloyed steel, with 18% nickel. The alloy has a yield strength of 150 kg per square mm (for titanium it is about 79 kg/sq.mm). Manufacturer: Finnish company Lokomo, part of the Rauma Repola concern. Crew accommodation The crew of the GOA "Mir" consists of three people - a pilot, an engineer and a scientist-observer.

Rescue system

The emergency rescue system of the device consists of a syntactic buoy released by the crew, with a 7000 m long Kevlar cable attached to it, along which half of the coupling is lowered (the same as a railway automatic coupler).
It reaches the device, then automatic coupling occurs, and the device is lifted on a long power cable, 6500 m long, with a breaking force of about ten tons.

Comparative assessment

As of 2008, in addition to the Russian Mir-1 and Mir-2, there are two more devices in the world (three were built). The American Sea Cliff (DSV Sea Cliff), which is currently being converted, the French Nautile, both with a diving depth of 6000 meters, and the Japanese Shinkai 6500 6500), which set a diving record for existing vehicles of 6527 meters.

Baikal exploration

Since July 2008, both devices have been located on Lake Baikal. On this lake they conducted their first deep-sea dives in fresh water. It is planned that the expedition will continue in 2009, during which 100 dives will be completed.
On July 30, 2008, the Mir-2 spacecraft collided with a floating platform and sustained damage to the left propeller.
In 2008, 53 dives were carried out in the middle and southern basins of the lake, in which 72 hydronauts took part. The nature of the appearance of oil spills on the surface of the lake and the fauna were investigated.
Four levels of ancient “beaches” have been discovered, meaning that Baikal was filled gradually. At a depth of 800 meters, three boxes of ammunition from the Civil War were found, 7 cartridges were recovered.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin dived to the bottom of Lake Baikal on the Mir deep-sea submersible on August 1, 2009.

Notable commanders

Anatoly Sagalevich

Chernyaev Evgeniy Sergeevich