Ronald H. Brown

The NOAA Ship the Ronald H. Brown is the flagship of the NOAA fleet and is named in memory of a former the U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary who perished in a plane crash in 1996. The Ron Brown was used during the 2005 NOAA-University of Washington Ocean Exploration Cruise to Lost City. During this program it hosted the  remotely operated vehicle (ROV) systems Argus and Hercules. The cruise utilized new technology that allowed shore-based scientists at the University of Washington (nearly 5000 mi away) to conduct "sea-going" research in real-time via  satellite transmissions.  The latency for real-time images and voice over IP was ~ 1.5 seconds from Lost City to the University of Washington, Seattle. For 10 days the Ron Brown, and Argus and Hercules were used to explore the Lost City vent system and surrounding massiff.