Research submarine Boaty McBoatface is being sent on its first science mission in Antarctica.
The yellow 200 million pound (US$242 million) vehicle will collect data on deep water movements in the Orkney Passage, a 3.5-kilometer-deep (2.17 miles) region of the Southern Ocean.
Deep waters play a critical role in regulating the Earth’s climate.
“Boaty” will depart from Punta Arenas in Chile on Friday, traveling with the DynOPO (Dynamics of the Orkney Passage Outflow) expedition on the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research ship James Clark Ross.
The new type of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) was named by members of the public, as part of a campaign by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).