The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason, operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is a robotic vehicle that is used to recover and reinstall (turn) much of the Secondary Infrastructure (e.g., instruments, junction boxes) on the Regional Cabled Array. For this expedition Jason will work at water depths of 80 m to 2900 m. The vehicle is tethered to the R/V Roger Revelle by a fiber-optic cable that allows real-time communication to and from the ship and the ROV, as well as providing power to the ROV.
Last year, Jason was modified to meet special requirements needed to work on the Cabled Array – these include heavy lift capabilities ( up to ~4,000 lbs) and the ability to latch into the junction boxes and Shallow Profiler Mooring components for recovery and reinstallation. As part of this modification, Jason is now a 1-part vehicle system without the need for Medea. Instead floats are used to dampen wave action.