HONOLULU (AP) — “Titanic” director James Cameron dove to the Earth’s deepest point in a specially designed submarine, the National Geographic Society said, making him the first man to travel alone to the near 7-mile depth of the Marianas Trench.
The Hollywood icon, also the director of “Avatar” and other films, touched down in the western Pacific Ocean’s low point shortly before 8 a.m. Guam time today (Sunday evening in the U.S. East Coast), the Geographic said.
He reached a depth of 35,756 feet and stayed on the bottom for about three hours before he began his return to the surface, according to information provided by the expedition team. He had planned to spend up to six hours on the sea floor.
“Cameron collected samples for research in marine biology, microbiology, astrobiology, marine geology and geophysics,” the Geographic said.
He also spent time filming the Marianas Trench, about 200 miles southwest of the Pacific island of Guam.
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