Titanic wreck’s digital twin to reveal never-seen-before details of debris

The legendary Titanic, frozen in time at the bottom of the Atlantic, is about to be explored in unprecedented detail.

This mission aims to create the most detailed photographic record of the Titanic ever made.

Using cutting-edge technology, the team will scan every nook and cranny of the iconic liner, shedding new light on its tragic sinking.

The first commercial mission since the OceanGate tragedy

This expedition marks the first commercial mission to the Titanic since the OceanGate tragedy last year, in which five men perished while attempting to visit the wreck in a novel submersible.

As reported by BBC News , a joint memorial service will be held at sea to honor these men and the 1,500 passengers and crew who perished with the Titanic in 1912.

The expedition is being led by RMS Titanic Inc., a US company with exclusive salvage rights to the wreck. To date, they have recovered some 5,500 objects from the Titanic, but this latest mission is solely for reconnaissance.

The team will deploy two robotic vehicles to capture millions of high-resolution photographs and create a 3D model of the debris field. “We want to see the wreck with a clarity and precision that’s never before been achieved,” explained co-expedition lead David Gallo to BBC News .

The logistics ship Dino Chouest will serve as the base of operations in the North Atlantic. Weather permitting, the team will spend 20 days above the wreck, which lies at a depth of 3,800 meters (12,500 feet).

The mission is expected to be a poignant few weeks for all involved, particularly because one of the five who died in the OceanGate submersible, Frenchman Paul-Henri (“PH”) Nargeolet, was the director of research at RMS Titanic Inc. A plaque will be laid on the seabed in his honor.

“It’s tough, but the thing about exploration is that there’s an urge and a drive to keep going. And we’re doing that because of that passion PH had for continuous exploration,” said Rory Golden, a friend of Nargeolet and the “chief morale officer” on Dino Chouest.

Cutting-edge technology at the helm

The story of the Titanic’s ill-fated voyage is known worldwide, immortalized in countless books, movies, and documentaries. Despite extensive study since its discovery in 1985, a definitive map of the wreck site remains elusive.

The bow and stern sections of the broken ship are well understood, but many areas of the surrounding debris field have received only cursory inspection.

To address this, the team will use two six-ton remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). One ROV will be equipped with ultra-high-definition optical cameras and a special lighting system, while the other will carry a sensor package that includes a lidar (laser) scanner. Together, they will scan a 1.3km-by-0.97km section of the seafloor.

Evan Kovacs, who is in charge of the imaging program, anticipates that his camera systems will produce images with millimeter resolution.

“If all of the weather gods, the computer gods, the ROV gods, the camera gods – if all those gods align, we should be able to capture Titanic and the wreck site in as close to digital perfection as you can get. You would be able to quite literally count grains of sand,” he told BBC News .

A major feature of this expedition is the magnetometer on the sensor ROV, which can find all metals at the wreck site, even those buried in the sediment.

“It would be an absolute dream to determine what has happened with Titanic’s bow below the seafloor,” said geophysics engineer Alison Proctor, as quoted by BBC News . “Hopefully, we’ll be able to deduce whether or not the bow was crushed when it hit the seabed, or if it might actually extend down well into the sediment intact.”

Uncovering new mysteries

The team plans to check the condition of well-known objects in the debris field, like the large boiler that spilled out when the ship broke in half. They also hope to find items seen on earlier visits, including an electric candelabra and possibly a second Steinway grand piano.

The wooden parts of the piano would have decayed, but the cast iron frame and some keys might still be intact.

This is RMS Titanic Inc’s ninth visit to the wreck site. The company has faced controversy recently for wanting to recover the Marconi radio equipment that sent distress calls the night the ship sank.

Although this won’t happen on this expedition, it is a goal for future missions. Extracting the equipment would mean entering the fragile, crumbling ship, which raises ethical concerns.

Using the latest technology, the team plans to identify objects for future recovery and document as much of the ship as possible. They are also very interested in the wider debris field, which could hold surprises.

In a recent Reddit Ask Me Anything, RMS Titanic Inc said they plan to keep the vehicles in the water for 20 days to gather as much information as possible.

“We aren’t using manned submersibles this time around, so thankfully we don’t have to worry about that, just the cabin fever of being stuck on the ship,” the company wrote .