(MWN / 09-12-09) The Minister of Public Works, José Blanco, and the representative of the Office of Science and Technology of the U.S. White House, Jerry Miller, have presided in Baiona (Pontevedra, Spain) the institutional act to receive the robot submarine glider 'Scarlet Knight' after having crossed the Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey and travelled more than 4,600 miles in 225 days.

The event took place at the Royal Yacht Club in the town of Baiona. In it, the minister has given the robot to the American delegation.

The voyage of the “Scarlet Knight”, boosted by Rutgers University (New Jersey) in collaboration with the Government of Spain, is, as Public Works highlighted, a “milestone” in the history of navigation. This little device has crossed the Atlantic Ocean without motor, just with the power of its batteries, which allows it to “plan” under the water and take advantage of ocean currents.

The ceremony was also attended by Gary Richard, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States; Dean Goodman, from Rutgers University; the President of Puertos del Estado, Fernando González Laxe; the Conselleira do Mar, Rosa Quintana; the mayor of Baiona, Jesús Vázquez Almuiña; and technicians involved in the project.

Pioneering project of a vehicle that does not pollute

The “glider” mission is to collect data from the ocean as for example water density, salinity, temperature, etc.,  contributing to a better understanding of the oceans role in climate change and its impact on port infrastructures.

This is a “clean” device that does not use polluting energy, so, according to what the researchers said, could be the first step to use them frequently for oceanographic studies and maybe in the future to develop a new system of shipping.

The underwater robot has had to overcome the drifts caused by currents and storms, reaching to record waves of more than 9 meters. Its course is corrected every time it goes to the surface, when it also transmits via satellite all the data collected in each of the dives.

The mission “has been a challenge”, as they emphasized, both for the researchers and by the techniques developed so far in its mission. The milestone of this small device has been to cross the Atlantic Ocean without motor, just with the power of its batteries, which allows it to “plan” under the water and take advantage of ocean currents. The average speed of the glider has been 6 inches per second and it has consumed only 60% of the battery charging.

The glider, after in Baiona, will be received in Washington, where it is provided that the President Barack Obama will collect it. Later, it will be deposited in one of the museums of the Smithsonian Institution. There it will have its permanent place next to the “Spirit of St. Louis”, the legendary aircraft that was first to cross the Atlantic nonstop, and the command module of Apollo XI.