Autonomous Boat Looks for Amelia Earhart
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In 1937, Amelia Earhart tried to fly around the world. She didn't make it, and went down somewhere in the Pacific -- though she wasn't declared dead until 1939.
It's been 80 years and the search for Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Model 10-E Electra has never ceased.\\xa0
Researchers believe that a new autonomous boat named BEN may be the key to finding some answers. BEN (Bathymetric Explorer and Navigator) ia an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) designed at the University of New Hampshire and manufactured by ASV Global, an expert in unmanned and autonomous marine systems. BEN was created to explore the seafloor in waters too deep for divers.\\xa0
The researchers are part of the crew aboard the EV Nautilus, which is led by National Geographic Explorer-at-Large Robert Ballard.\\xa0
BEN was designed with state-of-the-art seafloor mapping systems to create a 3D topographic map of the ocean floor in the shallow areas near the island where Earhart sent her last radio transmission. The area is too deep for divers and too shallow for the Nautilus. BEN's maps will be used to plan targeted dives with remotely operated vehicles (ROV) to search for remnants of the plane.
Hopefully, after 80 years, this could finally bring some closure to this epic tale.
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