China’s first manned deep-sea submersible Jiaolong successfully reached a depth of 5,188 meters during its third test dive in eastern Pacific Ocean on the morning of July 28, 2011, according to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), making China the fifth country, following the United States, Russia, Japan and France, to have the capacity to send human being 5,000 meters below sea level.

As one of the major institutes involved in the project, Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA) was responsible for the R&D of the submersible’s control system. Functioning as Jiaolong’s “brain and central nervous system”, the control system picks up operation signals from the on-board operation panel and information from various sensors; and after analyzing and measuring the inputs, outputs commands to the actuators to enable the submersible fulfill various operations. Meanwhile, the collected data will be saved and displayed on the human-computer interface, serving as references for the pilots and commanders to make future decisions. In the past two years, SIA has sent 15 personnel to participate in Jiaolong’s sea tests, guaranteeing that there be more than four people on board. Two SIA staff applied for Jiaolong’s sea dive trial.

China initiated the Jiaolong project in 2002. According to China Daily, submersible Jiaolong is expected to have a 7,000-meter test dive in 2012. Xu Qinan, chief designer of the submersible was quoted by the newspaper saying that, Jiaolong is the world’s first manned submersible designed to reach the depth of 7,000 meters below sea level.

Before the 5,188m record, Jiaolong had respectively passed depth of 4,027 and 5,057 meters in July 21 and 26. The result also surpassed the record of 3,759 meters during its South China Sea test dive in 2010. From May 31 to July 18, 2010, the craft completed 17 dives into the South China Sea.

Jiaolong’s record-breaking performance will have significant impact on exploring mineral resources on sea floor, utilizing the ocean in a peaceable way, and advancing China’s international influence in the field of deep sea technology. SIA personnel will continue to contribute expertise in making the 7,000 meters record a reality.

Japan now holds the record for sending a vessel on a deep dive. The country’s Shinkai 6500 dove 6,527 meters into the depths in August 1989.