The Nation - News from July 14, 1986

The leader of an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic rode a midget sub to a depth of more than two miles southeast of Newfoundland to see the hull of the luxury liner firsthand. Robert Ballard, leader of the Navy-financed exploration, and two crew members made a six-hour dive in preparation for an 11-day examination of the ship, which hit an iceberg and sank on April 14, 1912. A photography rig was lowered to the wreck by cable to take 3,000 photographs before the explorers descend again today. A team on the surface vessel Atlantis tested a lawnmower-sized robot that will be guided down the Titanic’s grand stairway and send back high-resolution television pictures of the vessel from top to bottom.