Hitting the bottom: software simulation and Deepsea Challenger

At 1.59pm on March 25, 2012, Hollywood film producer James Cameron became the first person to tweet from the bottom of the ocean. ‘Just arrived at the ocean’s deepest point,’ he wrote from inside his sub, the Deepsea Challenger. ‘Hitting bottom never felt so good.’ Four hours later he emerged on the surface, dishevelled and grinning, after a record-breaking feat.

Within hours, and barely enough time to let his achievement sink in, Cameron had disappeared again - this time to London for the premiere of his film, Titanic 3D. The world was astounded by his vision and bravery, and the media went into frenzy. Meanwhile behind the scenes, the unsung heroes of event were tidying away their equipment and collecting data that they would later spend months analysing.

‘Imagine sitting on a tiny chair. Somebody puts a steel sphere around you and bolts it from the outside so you can’t get out,’ said Phil Durbin, one of the engineers involved in the project. ‘I don’t know how you are with claustrophobia, but I’m not terribly good at it. It takes a different psychology as a person to be in it, and it takes ultimate faith in the engineers that are putting it all together for you.’