X-SciTech

Virgin Oceanic's deep-sea submersible

By Daniel Terdiman

April 5, 2011 / 5:07 PM EDT / CBS News

Richard Branson, the owner of the vast Virgin empire, announced his newest effort today: Virgin Oceanic. The idea is to send a single pilot to the deepest points in each of the Earth's oceans in a deep-sea submersible known as the DeepFlight Challenger. Made by Hawkes Ocean Technologies, the craft originally belonged to uber-adventurer Steve Fossett, who died before he was able to complete the journey to the Mariana Trench, which at 36,201 feet below the surface, is the deepest spot on the planet.

Now, Branson and his partner Chris Welsh plan to spend the next two years on their so-called Five Dives initiative which, among other things, is hoped to spread the word about the urgent need for ocean research and exploration.