Deep-sea explorer Robert Ballard led the team that discovered the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic in 1985. Since that time, more than 100 scientists and tourists have visited the two-mile-deep site in submersibles. Now Ballard has a high-tech plan to radically expand the number of people who can visit the beloved wreck: Equip the Titanic for real-time virtual visitation with a system of video-equipped remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) permanently installed on the ocean floor [see Popular Science’s rendition of the system in our July issue].

"Rarely is a shipwreck so well preserved," whispers Sanctuary Manager Jeff Gray as the submersible Little Hercules inches toward the ghostly remains of a 19th-century schooner. Three wooden masts stand tall and surprisingly intact. Wood-stock anchors rest peacefully in catheads. Chains, batons and wire rigging lie scattered about the deck. And carved into the hull near the port-side cabin window, barely visible, is her name: Cornelia B. Windiate.