Wreck of the RMS Titanic research. The stern section, which had previously received relatively little attention from explorers, was specifically targeted for analysis. The microbial colonies aboard "Titanic" were also a key focus of investigation. The second expedition, from 27 May – 12 June 2004, saw the return of Robert Ballard to "Titanic" nearly 20 years after he discovered it. The expedition spent 11 days on the wreck, carrying out high-resolution mapping using video and stereoscopic still images. 2005 saw two expeditions to the "Titanic". James Cameron returned for the third and last time to film "Last Mysteries of the Titanic". Another expedition searched for
Wreck of the RMS Titanic salvage award ($225 million requested by RMS Titanic Inc.). On 24 March 2009, it was revealed that the fate of 5,900 artefacts retrieved from the wreck would rest with a U.S. District Judge's decision. The ruling was later issued in two decisions on 12 August 2010 and 15 August 2011. As announced in 2009, the judge ruled that RMS Titanic Inc. owned the artefacts and her decision dealt with the status of the wreck as well as establishing a monitoring system to check future activity upon the wreck site. On 12 August 2010, Judge Rebecca Beach Smith granted RMS Titanic,