The future of humans living underwater — BBC News

[0:00] Pushing boundaries while under pressure. [0:02] It's what happens here, literally. [0:05] We're checking out some of the latest tech [0:07] helping people stay under water for longer. [0:10] I think, we're gonna head over to Sub Island over here [0:14] and then onto the floating pontoon [0:16] with some of the floating walkway. [0:18] But to get where we need to go, [0:19] well, we're gonna need a boat. [0:22] Yeah, we're gonna stick to traveling [0:23] above the water for this one. [0:25] Let's go. [0:27] Let's do this. [0:30] Tell us where we are, what's going on? [0:32] So, we are here on the lake at Deep Campus. [0:35] It's a massive body of water, about 600 meters long [0:38] and up to about 80 meters deep. [0:40] So we're right near the border with England and Wales, [0:43] just outside Chepso. [0:44] And usually, I can promise you, [0:45] it's really sunny and beautiful down here. [0:48] It's really windy right now. [0:50] It is. [0:51] And we're going over this way, right? [0:53] We are. [0:54] We're gonna head over, first of all, [0:55] to what we call Sub Island. [0:57] It's the home of our sub. [1:00] We're gonna dock there, [1:01] and then we're gonna walk over the floating walkway [1:03] and end up over here on our saturation diving [1:06] training facility, which is on a floating pontoon, [1:09] which is just being constructed at the moment [1:10] and should be finished around autumn time. [1:12] What was this before it was what it is now? [1:15] Yeah, so this used to be a quarry, a working quarry. [1:17] People used to learn to dive here. [1:19] And there's a lot of kind of curiosities [1:21] at the bottom of the lake [1:22] that the divers used to dive to that still exist. [1:24] So things like a double-decker bus, a helicopter, [1:28] an airplane even, some tanks. [1:30] And if you were gonna go on a sub ride, [1:32] you could have seen a few of those, [1:33] but maybe next time. [1:34] And how far down are we talking? [1:36] Like, how far can you go, Andreas? [1:38] Yeah, so it's the deepest point. [1:39] It's about 80 meters. [1:40] 80 meters? [1:41] 80 meters, yeah. [1:42] That does vary throughout the year, [1:43] up to about eight meters, [1:45] when it's kind of more water or less water [1:46] due to the season. [1:48] So it doesn't look like it here, [1:49] but there is a whole world basically underneath our feet. [1:52] That's correct. [1:54] But yeah, we should be seeing some of the key components [1:56] that make up the system. [1:58] They're not all connected yet, [1:59] electrically or any of the gas systems or anything, [2:02] but we should be able to see [2:03] some of the main pieces of equipment in situ. [2:05] Very, very cool. [2:07] Heading underwater for long periods of time [2:10] isn't straightforward [2:11] because of the way pressure affects our bodies. [2:14] That's why humans need habitats [2:16] like the ones being made here [2:17] to dive down and stick around longer. [2:19] But before heading under the waves, [2:21] divers need to go through a process known as saturation. [2:25] It's something Mark here knows all about. [2:26] So go on, tell us, how does this all work? [2:29] What are we standing next to? [2:30] So this is one of two main chambers. [2:33] This is a fully offshore specified diving chamber. [2:37] This is where the divers will live. [2:39] So the whole idea is the divers will enter into the chamber [2:42] through this door. [2:43] They'll then get pressurized to the depth [2:45] that they're going to dive to. [2:46] And they will then live at depth for the duration of their dive [2:50] right all the way through until they decompress. [2:53] The human body can't just dive to depths, [2:56] any depths really over 50 meters, [2:58] then to come straight back to surface [3:00] without incurring heavy penalties and decompressing. [3:03] Because the deeper you go, the more gas you absorb. [3:05] And in order to release that becomes a really lengthy process. [3:09] So the way that saturation works is to replace those dangerous gases, [3:13] but also allow you a comfortable environment to slowly release the gases [3:18] as you decompress and come back to surface. [3:21] So divers will come up from there. [3:24] That's right. [3:25] They'll climb up from there. [3:26] They'll climb into the bell. [3:28] This is called the diving bell. [3:29] This big orange thing here. [3:31] Absolutely. [3:31] This is a smaller chamber that's at the same pressure as they are. [3:35] They'll transfer into there. [3:36] They'll close the door. [3:38] They'll then disconnect this from the system. [3:41] And then this will be transferred all the way out here [3:46] and then launched down into the water to depth, [3:50] where the divers will then open up the door [3:52] and then go diving from the bell. [3:54] When they've done their dive, they'll come back up. [3:57] They'll get transferred back in. [3:59] They'll reconnect to this. [4:01] This trunking, as it's called. [4:03] They'll then transfer back down into the chambers. [4:07] They will get changed. [4:08] They'll eat their food. [4:09] They'll have a shower. [4:10] They'll go to bed. [4:11] Amazing. [4:12] All at the same pressure. [4:13] All at the same pressure. [4:14] Cool. [4:15] While this part of the campus is still under construction, [4:18] getting ready for its first test dives, [4:20] there's already something just over the lake [4:22] they'll let us start an underwater adventure in style. [4:28] Johnny, hey. [4:29] Hey, how's it going? [4:30] Thanks for having us. [4:31] So what do we need to know before we get in? [4:33] So this is a Triton 3K3 Submersible. [4:38] It's a three-person, 1,000-meter-capable sub. [4:41] I will show you how we get in, and we're [4:44] going to take all of this off before we get in. [4:47] Let's go in. [4:50] Whoop. [4:54] And then squat there for a second. [4:57] That's it. [4:58] Pull this. [4:59] And get your legs. [5:00] And we're in. [5:02] Yeah. [5:03] It's pretty comfortable. [5:05] Yeah. [5:05] I think the acrylic gives such good visibility. [5:09] Yeah. [5:09] People think that they're going to be claustrophobic, [5:12] but this just disappears in the water, as you can see. [5:15] Yeah. [5:16] This is amazing. [5:18] How many of these are there in the world? [5:21] So there's about 10 of them. [5:23] We own two of them. [5:25] All 10 are not operational at the moment. [5:28] Most of these are used for science and research. [5:30] And we currently use this one for training of experienced [5:35] pilots. [5:35] And when you say training pilots, how do you control this? [5:40] So I control it with a joystick. [5:43] So it's just forward, back, side to side, very intuitive. [5:48] And then we can also pass over control to the passenger, [5:51] who would be the trainee pilot. [5:54] So just like if you're a learner driver, [5:56] yes, you're a learner submarine pilot. [6:00] And while subs like this mean that we can go further [6:03] underwater, Deep's also working on ways [6:06] that we might be able to live there longer, too. [6:09] That means not just people with a career of diving [6:12] under their belts, but scientists and maybe even [6:14] someday tourists. [6:21] Let's go. [6:22] Come on in. [6:23] Thank you very much. [6:26] This is just a prototype for now, [6:28] but Deep's plans could see much bigger habitats like this one [6:32] for humans to live in for days or even weeks at a time. [6:35] Luckily, it's all still on dry land, making it much [6:39] easier to take a look around. [6:43] All right. [6:44] Let's have a chat. [6:44] Yeah, absolutely. [6:47] Tell us about this place. [6:48] Where are we standing right now? [6:49] So right now we are in what was once the Sentinel. [6:55] This is our habitat, which was developed and built out to demonstrate what we are [7:01] trying to accomplish. [7:02] It's about understanding that you can interact with the ocean in a way that is comfortable. [7:08] It's not that you're just there for a moment. [7:10] It's fundamentally that you're allowed to be there and able to be there for a long period [7:14] of time. [7:15] How much of what is going on here is like big moonshot thinking? [7:19] And then how much of it is actual stuff that's going to happen in the next few years? [7:23] So much of the millennia attention has been cast into space. [7:27] Billions of dollars have been spent on getting humans and satellites into space. [7:32] So little attention, in comparison, has been afforded into the oceans, which is right here. [7:38] It's right on our doorstep. [7:39] Our saturation training capability is live this autumn. [7:44] And our first pilot habitat, the Vanguard, will be deployed into the Florida Keys National [7:49] Marine Statuary in the next few weeks. [7:52] When it comes to travelling and being underwater, that can seem like quite a scary thing for [7:57] a lot of people. [7:58] In some cases, that's because of things that have happened in the news that they might have [8:01] seen. [8:02] How does that affect kind of trying to get people interested and excited about the work that's [8:06] going on here? [8:07] I mean, it's paramount. [8:10] Our ability to get people into the water and out of the water safety is second to none. [8:19] We are using proven technology. [8:22] Our hulls are steel-based, which is quite different to some of the other occasions. [8:28] We undertake as much marine assurance through interactions with classification societies whose [8:37] job it is to effectively check our homework. [8:41] So we are doing everything we can to ensure that our hardware stands up to scrutiny. [8:46] We are trying to open the gateway, the moon pool, to whoever has the curiosity. [8:54] I'm working on my personal mission to expand my diving capability to allow me to eventually [8:59] one day dive in and out of the habitat. [9:04] And if everything goes to plan for the team here, more of us could be living in places [9:08] like this really soon. [9:11] So what do you reckon? [9:12] Could this be your new home under the waves?