Challenger Deep (CD) is the deepest known point in the Earth's seabed hydrosphere, a slot-shaped valley in the floor of Mariana Trench, with depths exceeding 10,900 meters. It is located in the Federated States of Micronesia. In 2019, sonar mapping of Challenger Deep by the DSSV Pressure Drop, which employed a Kongsberg SIMRAD EM124 multi beam echosounder system, showed the bottom of Challenger Deep comprised three 'pools' – Western, Central and Eastern.
In 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard were the first humans to reach Challenger Deep, completing that dive as a team. 52 years later, James Cameron became the first person to solo dive that point. Piccard, Walsh and Cameron remained the only people to reach the Challenger Deep until 2019, when regular dives in DSV Limiting Factor began. To date, 19 of the 22 successful descents have been made in the Limiting Factor. No other craft has made a repeat descent.
Astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan and mountaineer Vanessa O'Brien were the first two women to visit Challenger Deep in 2020. Victor Vescovo has made the most dives to Challenger Deep; by August 2022 he had made eleven dives to the Eastern pool, two to the Western pool, and two to the Central pool for a total of 15 dives.
The following is a list of individuals who have descended to Challenger Deep in the Federated States of Micronesia. These individuals will have descended at least into one of the three pools (western, central or eastern) that constitute Challenger Deep.
No. Date Name Submersible Location Notes1 Trieste Western PoolWorld first; depth record2 James Cameron Deepsea Challenger Eastern Pool First solo3 Victor Vescovo Limiting Factor Eastern PoolDepth record; two solo dives. First person to reach Earth's highest and lowest points.4 Limiting Factor Eastern Pool Deepest marine recovery5 John Ramsay Limiting Factor Central PoolLimiting Factor's designer. Pilot: Lahey6 Kathryn D. Sullivan Limiting Factor Eastern Pool First woman and first astronaut, first person to travel both to Challenger Deep and into space. Pilot: Vescovo7 Vanessa O'Brien Limiting Factor Eastern PoolFirst woman to Earth's highest and lowest points. Pilot: Vescovo8 John Rost Limiting Factor Eastern Pool Longest time at bottom: 4.2 hours. Pilot: Vescovo9 Kelly Walsh Limiting Factor Western PoolSon of Don Walsh. First father and son. Pilot: Vescovo10 Ying-Tsong Lin Limiting Factor Central PoolFirst Asian person. Pilot: Vescovo11 Jim Wigginton Limiting Factor Eastern PoolOldest person. Pilot: Vescovo12 Striver Eastern PoolFirst PRC citizens. Pilot: Zhang Wei13 Richard Garriott Limiting Factor Eastern Pool First to both poles, space and Challenger Deep. First male astronaut to Challenger Deep. Pilot: Vescovo 14 Michael DubnoLimiting Factor Eastern PoolFirst Jewish person Pilot: Vescovo15 Hamish Harding Limiting Factor Eastern PoolRecords for longest time at bottom (4.25 hours) and longest traverse at bottom (4.6 km). First crew to go to space and Challenger Deep together. Pilot: Vescovo16 Nicole YamaseLimiting Factor Western Pool First Pacific Islander. Pilot: Vescovo17Limiting FactorWestern PoolFirst New Zealander and first Australian. Pilot: Macdonald18 Limiting Factor Pilot: Patrick Lahey19 Aaron Charles Newman Limiting Factor Central PoolPilot: Vescovo20 Jim KitchenLimiting Factor Eastern PoolPilot: Tim Macdonald21 Dylan Taylor Limiting Factor Eastern PoolPilot: Vescovo22 Dawn Wright Limiting Factor Western PoolFirst Black person. Pilot: Vescovo
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