What does Jason sample?
The many instruments on Jason sample everything from basic water conditions to chunks of the sea bottom. The toolkit includes six color videocameras, one still camera, an imaging sonar, a multibeam sonar for mapping the sea floor, two robotic manipulator arms and two kinds of water samplers. One of the water samplers collects up to 500 mL (about one U.S. pint) of sea water at a time. It’s built to withstand the hot, caustic waters of hydrothermal vents. The other sampler holds less water (about 140 mL or almost 2/3 of a cup), but it maintains high pressure on the water and any dissolved gases as the sample comes back to the surface. The manipulator arms – combined with the video cameras – let scientists reach out to the sea floor, grasp samples, and maneuver instruments into vent openings or other tight spaces. Jason can collect samples weighing up to 130 kg (315 pounds). When scientists want to collect more than this, they have Jason place samples into a “deep-sea elevator.” This is,
