$17B 'holy grail of shipwrecks' discovered

The long-lost 300-year-old Spanish galleon was found with the help of an autonomous underwater vehicle.

Discovered in 2015 off the coast of Colombia by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the wreck had been kept under wraps for the last three years out of respect for the Colombian government.

Known as the San Jose, the 62-gun galleon went down on June 8, 1708 along with 600 members of its crew while engaged in a battle with the British during the War of Spanish Succession.

Incredibly, the wreck is thought to contain a treasure trove which today is worth over $17 billion.

Now new information has been released indicating that the ship, which lies 2,000ft beneath the ocean's surface, was found using an autonomous underwater vehicle known as REMUS 6000.

"The wreck was partially sediment-covered, but with the camera images from the lower altitude missions, we were able to see new details in the wreckage and the resolution was good enough to make out the decorative carving on the cannons," said expedition leader Mike Purcell.

"During that November expedition, we got the first indications of the find from side scan sonar images of the wreck," WHOI expedition leader Mike Purcell explains in a statement.

"From those images, we could see strong sonar signal returns, so we sent REMUS back down for a closer look to collect camera images."

Photographs taken just 9 metres (30 ft) above the wreck identified the vessel's cannons, and later dives uncovered details like engraved dolphins carved into the cannons' bronze, in addition to scattered teacups on the seabed, plus ceramics and other artefacts.

There's no official word yet on when or how these objects will be recovered – not to mention the San José's other considerable riches, which have not yet been detailed.

It remains unclear who will end up with the vessel's vast riches however there have already been several tense legal battles over the matter and the precise location of the vessel is still a secret.

UNESCO has since called on Colombia not to exploit the wreck for commercial purposes.

Read More

Moon mission 'a step towards Mars', NASA boss says.

The US space agency has emphasized that its Moon ambitions will not distract from its efforts to reach Mars.

In December, instructing Nasa to send astronauts back to the moon, half a century after Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot there. Last week, Nasa issued a draft request for a proposal encouraging the US commercial space industry to help it deliver payloads to the moon.

Last week, NASA seemed to be doubling down on the Moon as a target for future missions when it published a draft request for a proposal encouraging the commercial space industry to assist in its upcoming efforts to land payloads on the lunar surface.

Now though, new administrator Jim Bridenstine has reiterated that Mars is still the main objective.

"If some of you are concerned that our focus in the coming years is the Moon, don't be," he said during a speech at the annual Humans to Mars summit in Washington.

"The president's vision has emphasized that our exploration campaign will establish American leadership in the human exploration of Mars."

"We are doing both the moon and Mars in tandem and the missions are supportive of each other."

"In fact, our return to the surface of the moon will allow us to prove and advance technologies that will feed forward to Mars: precision landing systems, methane engines, orbital habitation, surface habitation, surface mobility, long duration life support operations and much more that will enable us to land the first Americans on the red planet."

According to space subcommittee chairman Senator Ted Cruz, the US is particularly committed to not only landing humans on Mars but to also being the first nation on Earth to do so.

"The first foot that sets foot on Mars will be an American foot, and an American explorer," he said. "That's leadership that I think this country needs and values."

"Restoring America's leadership in space I think is incredibly important."

Source:The Guardian

Read More