100 years ago today the Titanic sank. You might have missed out on some of the commemorative events, but a few exciting museums and exhibits are just opening. Michelle da Silva Richmond heads to the Mystic Aquarium’s Ocean Exploration Center for Dr. Robert Ballard’s unveiling of the “Titanic – 12,450 Feet Below” exhibit.
World renowned oceanographic explorer Dr. Robert Ballard unveiled a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art interactive exhibit at Mystic Aquarium’s Ocean Exploration Center in Connecticut this week in honor of the 100th anniversary of the RMS Titanic’s doomed maiden voyage.
“Titanic – 12,450 Feet Below,” allows visitors to get up close and personal with Ballard’s search and discovery of the luxury liner which sank after hitting an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland on April 15, 1912. More than 1500 people were lost in a tragedy which will be forever etched in history.
Ballard, president of Sea Research Foundation’s Institute for Exploration discovered the ruins of the Titanic on September 1, 1985, after years of searching and after four other teams had failed. An officer in the US Navy, he was on a covert mission for the US Government to find the wreckage of two submarines, the Thresher and the Scorpion, which were lost close to where Titanic had disappeared.
“We didn’t want the Soviets to know where our submarines were, so we needed a cover and Titanic became the cover. The Navy was going to fund the project but they wouldn’t allow me to continue my search for Titanic until their mission was finished. We found the two subs and ended up with only 12 days in which to search so we had to come up with a new strategy. The other teams had 60 days.”
At 12:48 am on September 1, 1985 the ARGO-Jason remotely operated vehicle developed by Ballard, found a trail of debris leading to the wreckage.
“I’ll never forget seeing Titanic for the first time in the pitch black,” he recalled. “You don’t see it until the last moment, as if someone pulled back the curtain, and out it comes from this black velvet void of nothingness.”
