Stone Aerospace has signed on as a major sponsor of the 2008 J2 Expedition – an effort that will see humans operating at the deepest, most remote location ever reached inside Earth.

Discovered in 2004, J2 is currently one of the world’s deepest cave systems – reaching a depth of 1210 meters (4,000 feet) at a distance of more than 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the nearest entrance. But explorers attempting to establish a new record for the deepest cave on earth in 2006 encountered a series of underwater tunnels at the bottom. A reconnaissance dive revealed the presence of three unexplored water filled tunnels. The lead diver, using carbon-epoxy open circuit diving apparatus running at 340 bar (5,000 psi) pressure was able to pass the first two underwater tunnels whereupon he discovered an 80 meter (250 foot) diameter cathedral size chamber. At the lower end of the chamber the tunnel continues, but underwater.

John Kerr, co-leader of the multi-national 2006 expedition said, “ to go further we’re going to have to invent new technologies to deal with remote cave diving.” The new MK6 rebreather, jointly under development by Stone Aerospace with DP Scandinavia, represents such a paradigm shift in portable life support system (PLSS) design. Stone Aerospace and DP Scandinavia will be providing 10 MK6 PLSS units to the 2008 J2 team along with training for lead divers.

Geology data on the Sierra Juarez range in southern Mexico – the site of J2 – suggests that the cave will ultimately join with other nearby caves to form a system more than 2650 meters (8,700 feet) deep. It will also represent the most remote exploration frontier ever confronted by humans: expedition logistics projections are now indicating 30 to 35 day round trip transit times underground, in total darkness, just to reach the most remote exploration bases. Much of that distance will be completely underwater in a series of flooded tunnels beginning at the -1210 meter level. Just to get to the dive site the teams must descend more than 50 vertical shafts (right) and make use of three separate underground camps separated a day’s traveling time apart. The teams traveling beyond the present limit of exploration will be dependent entirely on themselves and their technology for survival. If fully successful the 2008 J2 Expedition may establish, for all time, the deepest natural cavern on Earth.