By 1985 Deep Sea Exploration technology had vastly improved. In particular the French Oceanographic
Institute "Ifremer", had developed new side scan sonar capabilities. In addition the US Navy had fitted
an unmanned deep towed submersible called "Argo" with sophisticated video cameras and strobe lighting.
That summer French and American Scientists launched a collaborative two month expedition to test the
new equipment. A second goal of the expedition was to find and photograph the wreck of the Titanic.
According to plan, the French ship "Le Suroit" would tow a new side scan sonar device, called "SAR" 600
feet above the sea bed. The French team headed by Oceanographer Jean-Louis Michel and Operations leader
Jean Jarry would mow the lawn with SAR scanning an area 400 nautical miles in size. It would be up to
the French team to locate the Titanic. Then the American team led by Geologist Robert Ballard would
use the US Navy's video based search system to explore and photograph the wreck. If the joint expedition
succeeded in finding the Titanic, Ifremer would recover it's expenses from contracts it had negotiated
with Ballard's private company "DOSS" for the sale of video and still photo's of the wreck.
After
21 day's of constant sonar scanning over 80 percent of the search area there was still no sign of the
Titanic. In truth Le Suroit had actually passed over the Titanic at the very beginning of the search.
The ships magnetometers had indicated a large metal mass on the sea floor, but the expedition team had
dismissed the surprising readings, attributing them to equipment problems.
At that point the French
and American researchers transferred to the US Navy vessel "Knorr", while "Le Suroit" returned to France.
The joint team began to explore the remaining 20 percent of the search area using the American's new
video system mounted on Argo. Together they hunted for the debris that often falls from sinking ships,
as well as for the Titanic's wreck itself.
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