Titanic Team’s Robot Fails for 2nd Day; Is Repaired

WOODS HOLE, Mass. — The remote-controlled robot that has shot up-close videotape of the Titanic’s battered hull and details of its luxurious interior failed to work for the second day in a row Wednesday, scuttling plans for two Navy officers to practice operating the small tethered device.

The officers said in a ship-to-shore conversation with officials at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution that they descended 2 1/2 miles to the sunken hulk and explored the outside of the luxury liner in the three-man research submarine Alvin.

Loose Electrical Wire

The problem with Jason Jr., the lawnmower-sized robot tethered to the sub, apparently was a loose electrical wire that was repaired after Wednesday’s dive, said Anne I. Rabushka, Woods Hole spokeswoman.

Jason Jr. should be ready to use today in the last of 11 scheduled dives, she said.

The Navy is financing the Titanic exploration mission to test Jason Jr., which is a prototype for a slightly larger device the Navy hopes will scour the ocean’s bottom to find downed jets, sunken submarines and missiles that have gone astray.

Wednesday’s dive concentrated on exterior parts of the bow already examined in previous dives. The dive was to be a practice mission to allow Lt. Brian Kissel and Lt. Mike Mahre of the Navy’s submarine development center in San Diego to operate Jason Jr.

The plan for today calls for the chief scientist, Robert Ballard, who did not go down Wednesday, to take the final dive in Alvin and send Jason Jr. deeper into the Titanic’s interior. Last week the robot descended four levels into the grand liner, which sank 74 years ago, killing 1,513.