James Cameron's deep sea dive to begin, say reports

(CBS) After delays caused by bad weather, reports say "Avatar" filmmaker James Cameron's expedition to dive to the earth's deepest known point has set off.

The BBC reported that Cameron and his team had set off for the trench and were "waiting for calm weather to begin the dive." TG Daily echoes the BBC report, saying that Cameron is "on the point of attempting" the dive.

Cameron helped design the Deepsea Challenger, a submersible will attempt to reach the the "Challenger Deep," a spot in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean almost 7 miles below the ocean's surface.

According to the website set up for the dive, Cameron plans on making a solo descent in the craft. the site says Cameron previously made the deepest solo dive in history in the craft, going 5.1 miles deep in a "dress rehearsal" for the Challenger Deep dive.

For the Deepsea Challenge expedition, Cameron plans on spending 6 hours at the bottom of the trench, collecting samples "for research in marine biology, microbiology, astrobiology, marine geology and geophysics."

"The deep trenches are the last unexplored frontier on our planet, with scientific riches enough to fill a hundred years of exploration," Cameron said. Among Cameron's goals: "to inspire people across the globe to celebrate exploration and to explore with us online and through the media we produce."

The Challenger Deep has been reached just once before, by Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh in a specially-made bathyscaphe called the Trieste in 1960.

The expedition is a joint project by Cameron, the National Geographic Society and Rolex. According to the release, the expedition will be filmed for a 3-D feature that will be released to theaters.