The US Navy Underwater Construction Teams (UCT) are known and respected for their ability not just to dive but to accomplish a wide variety of submerged construction projects, many of which require accurate hydrographic data (side scan sonar & bathymetry). UCTs must have expertise in many areas and it is not practical for team members to be fully certified Hydrographers. They do,…
Last year a very complex technical underwater expedition resulted in the recovery of an Apollo F-1 engine from the Apollo 11 mission, the first landing of man on the moon on July 20, 1969. The 30-day recovery operation took place near the Bermuda Triangle, on one of the most advanced deepwater salvage ships equipped with the latest dynamic positioning technology.…
Law enforcement and fire rescue teams from four different states recently participated in a two-day Humminbird sonar training seminar in Fort. Collins, Colorado. The event was co-sponsored by Dive Rescue International and Black Laser Learning, Inc. One of the most difficult tasks for Humminbird® sonar operators is being able to identify a drowning victim. While the class attendees had a…
In 1969, the famous Apollo 11 mission landed the first two men on the moon. It was an enormous undertaking of men and machines. In 2013, a search expedition mounted by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, set out to find the massive F-1 engines from Apollo 11 near the Bermuda Triangle, in water depths of over 14,000 feet or 4,300 meters.…
Black Laser Learning is providing the US Navy at the Naval Oceanography Mine Warfare Center Stennis Space Center (NOMWC SSC) advanced sonar analysis training. Black Laser Learning’s Advanced MCM Post mission analysis (PMA) course trains side scan sonar analysts in advanced analytical techniques specifically for Mine Warfare. Advanced training includes individual PMA sessions and coaching with MK 18 sonar data. The…
Black Laser Learning’s (BLL) Vince Capone has been recognized by the U.S. District Court in New Orleans as a sonar expert. BLL recently supported the esteemed New Orleans law firm of Frilot LLC in a case involving a deepwater sonar survey operation. Capone spent eight days listening to testimony and worked with Frilot attorneys to present expert analysis to the…
A team of 12 U.S. navy sailors looked on as BLL’s lead instructor reviewed the fine nuances of analysing complex sea floor image data retrieved from an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). In the summer of 2015, Black Laser Learning travelled to the Stennis Space Centre in Mississippi to provide a two-day sonar analysis training program to members of the U.S.…
The ravages of war that occurred in Cambodia from the 1970s to the early 1990s still leave an indelible mark on the country today. Countless land mines were placed during the Cambodian Civil War during the 1970s by the Khmer Rouge, the Heng Samrin and Hun Sen regimes, and millions of tons of bombs rained down on the country during…
Historic Saturn V F-1 rocket engine parts that were recovered more than two years ago by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and an international team of experts, are now fully conserved and on display at the Cosmosphere International SciEd Center and Space Museum (formerly known as the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center) in Hutchinson, Kansas. The massive artifacts found in the Bermuda…
Aug 1, 2009: Black Laser Learning, Inc.® conducted a two-day Law Enforcement sonar training course in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Found him!” shouted the officer staring at the sonar image of a drowning victim on the computer screen. In this case, the victim happened to be a practice manikin sunk to the bottom of a Baton Rouge canal. While no technology can…
