A few days ago, I was saddened by the news that we had lost ABE, the Autonomous Benthic Explorer, off the coast of Chile. For 15 years, ABE had plumbed the depths, literally and figuratively, for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). Scientists had actually pulled ABE out of semi-retirement for this dive in Chile, to explore what's called the Chile Triple Junction, which WHOI notes is "the only place on Earth where a mid-ocean ridge is being subducted (or pushed beneath, a continent (South America) in a deep ocean trench."
Dana Yoerger, one of the scientists monitoring ABE off the Chilean coast, wrote that the craft was about 1.8 miles below the surface when contact was lost. "[S]omething really bad happened, most likely one of ABE's buoyancy spheres collapsed, triggering the implosion of all the others." At that depth, that would be "equivalent to several sticks of dynamite. "ABE sleeps with fishes," Yoerger sadly noted, "most likely in a zillion pieces.
That got us here at Discovery News Tech wondering about other explorer 'bots (both real and imaginary) either deep ocean or deep space, we've had to say goodbye to. Of course, it doesn't always end poorly. Read on!
1. Where's Waldo? In September of 2009, the MOTE Marine Lab in Sarasota, Florida also lost an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, or AUV, called Waldo. Yes, it was named in honor of that wily red-and-white-capped absconder. Walso went missing while on his normal mission -- helping out with research on red tide off the Florida coast. MOTE sent out an APB on the missing AUV, and offered a reward ($500). Ten days later, Waldo phoned home all by himself. He was only about 50 feet from his last known location. Tragedy averted! Huzzah! No word on if Waldo was just doing it to get the reward money himself. Did we mention MOTE has two other AUV's named Carmen and Nemo? Adorable.
2. Autosub: The REAL Yellow Submarine. This (very) yellow torpedo-like AUV was designed and built by the UK's National Oceanographic Centre in Southampton, England. It went on its first mission in 1996, and was used extensively for studying the waters under the Antarctic Ice Shelf. But on a mission in February 2005, contact was lost with Autosub, while the craft was 10 miles deep. With typical British stiff-upper-lippyness, the team noted: "The Autosub put out its emergency signal to indicate that something was wrong and then tried to surface. Of course, being under the ice it was unable to do so, and we were unable to get it." The team was on to building the next model anyway. Successfully, it would seem.
3. Viking 1 (and 2). From the depths of the ocean to the depths of space. Although we could talk about a number of hardware losses on Mars (some of them, we know, much more recent), it's these two Viking missions (both consisted of both orbiter and lander) that truly inspire, sending back the first images and data from the Martian surface in the mid to late 1970s, and even into the early 1980s. Check out this shot of frost on the Red Planet from Viking 2's landing site. Too cool. Viking 2's lander operated on the surface from 1976 until 1980, when its batteries failed. The Viking 2 orbiter developed a leak in the propulsion system, and turned off after more than 700 orbits around Mars. The Viking 1 lander was the Energizer Bunny of Mars missions. It lasted until 1982, when a faulty software command led to loss of Viking contact, and eventually battery depletion. Viking 1 didn't get to RIP though. It may have been imaged on the Martian surface by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2006.
4. Bob May: RIP, "The Robot." OK, OK let's face it. Sometimes you have to break away from reality just a touch. Remember "The Robot" from Lost in Space? "Of course you do, Will Robinson." Bob May was the actor that was actually inside the robot suit. Now, that's one exploring robot that got around in space, although they never really seemed to know where the heck they were going. Duh. And while the makers of the slightly atrocious 1998 "major motion picture" remake invited the original voice of The Robot, Dick Tufeld, to reprise his role, Bob May was not asked to again slip inside the suit that he once called "home away from home." May died in January of 2009, at the age of 69.
5. Data ("I am fully functional, programmed in multiple techniques") from Star Trek: There's no way we're going to let this post go by without mentioning that green-grey sentient android that wanted, through seven TV seasons and numerous movies, to be nothing short of human. I'll admit, I've always been a sucker for Data's compelling story-line, and for the way Brent Spiner portrayed him. How fitting that Data made the ultimate human sacrifice in Star Trek: Nemesis, saving Picard even as he perished. Ah, but the beauty of being an exploring 'bot in the distant future is that your programming can be downloaded and placed into the identical older brother you never knew you had, B-4. Live long, Data's memories, and prosper!
We know this list is not exhaustive. It wasn't trying to be. It's just what piqued our interest. Share your own thoughts and suggestions in the comments!
(Top photo courtesy of Dana Yoerger. Bottom photo courtesy of NASA)
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