Thrusters ROPOS is powered by pressurized hydraulic fluid. Two vertical hydraulic thrusters lie in here. There are also two lateral and two fore-aft thrusters. All told, ROPOS has 30 horses under the hood when in deep mode, which currently allows dives to about 10,000 feet but that will soon increase to almost 17,000 feet. (In shallow-water, "liveboat" mode—that is, in less than 1,200 feet of water and tethered directly to the ship—ROPOS is a 40-horsepower machine.) back to NOVA's Into the Abyss Home ©