DeepFlight Challenger point of each of the world's five oceans, the Mariana Trench of the Pacific Ocean (36,201 ft), the Puerto Rico Trench of the Atlantic Ocean (28,232 ft), the Diamantina Trench of the Indian Ocean (26,401 ft), South Sandwich Trench of the Southern Ocean (23,737 ft), and Molloy Deep of the Arctic Ocean (18,399 ft). The Cheyenne yacht will be used as the mothership for the dive efforts. It was planned that Branson would pilot the sub to the Puerto Rico Trench, while Chris Welsh would pilot it for the Mariana Trench dive. Virgin Oceanic had hoped to be the first
Mariana Trench poles than at the equator. As a result, parts of the Arctic Ocean seabed are at least closer to the Earth's centre than the Challenger Deep seafloor. In 2009, the Marianas Trench was established as a United States National Monument. Xenophyophores have been found in the trench by Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers at a record depth of below the sea surface. On 17 March 2013, researchers from the Scottish Association for Marine Science reported data that suggested microbial life forms thrive within the trench. The Mariana Trench is named for the nearby Mariana Islands (in turn named Las Marianas