The autonomous sub or AUV called Nereus has reached the world’s deepest abyss. On May 31 Nereus, with help from a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, reached the Challenger Deep abyss in the Mariana Trench. The trench is near the country territory of Guam.

Nereus was able to reach a depth of 6.8 miles deep. To be able to reach that depth, the robot had to withstand pressures 1,000 times that of what we experience on the Earth’s surface.

The robot can be operated via a fiber-optic tether or put on autonomous mode. In tether or ROV mode, Nereus also has a manipulator arm and sample basket to collect ocean floor samples, as well as cameras and sonar that allow it to make a map of the ocean floor.

Check out a cool interactive tour of Nereus here.

Link via (New Scientist)