BEIJING, (PNA/Xinhua) — China will test an autonomous underwater vehicle in the country’s latest scientific expedition in the eastern Pacific, the State Oceanic Administration said on Tuesday.
The Chinese research vessel, “Haiyang-6,” left Honolulu, Hawaii, on Oct. 8 for its trial mission, the administration said in a statement.
It will be a trial run for the vehicle and the first time an autonomous underwater vehicle developed by Chinese scientists will be used, the statement said.
The autonomous underwater vehicle, a robot that can travel 6,000 meters beneath the sea’s surface, is the latest major achievement in China’s oceanic technologies, the statement said.
China has already developed its own manned submersible and remotely operated underwater vehicle.
The manned submersible “Jiaolong” set a record in June 2012 by reaching 7,062 meters deep in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench.