The sub that took Hollywood director James Cameron to the deepest place in the ocean is being donated to science.
On the first anniversary of his 10.9km solo descent of the Mariana Trench, Mr Cameron told reporters that he was giving the Deepsea Challenger to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US.
Initially, parts will be used as add-ons for other subs, but the entire system could dive again in the future.
Mr Cameron said he would like to return to the controls himself at some point.
"I'd like to go dive the sub again," he explained. "There are a number of really, really interesting science targets out there.
I would love to see the Deepsea Challenger dive in the Tonga Trench, the Kermadec Trench and the Sirena Deep (a 10.7km-deep part of the Mariana Trench)."
The director said that the ocean was a vast unexplored frontier, but that funding cuts were now jeopardising research.
WHOI is one of the world's foremost research centres dedicated to ocean science. It already operates a a number of submersibles including the famous Alvin vehicle.
Initially, Woods Hole will use some of the components in Mr Cameron's sub to supplement its own vessels.
The lights and cameras from Deepsea Challenger will be installed on Nereus, an unmanned underwater vehicle that has also explored the Mariana Trench.
Dr Dave Gallo, director of special projects at WHOI, said the next stage would be to work out what other technology might be of use - and whether the submersible could be used again.
He added: "It is for one person, so you would have to have someone trained to do it - and we are looking very closely at every option."
The filmmaker said more money should be put into ocean science - and that it was essential to explore the biology and the chemistry of the deepsea.
The preliminary science results of the dive, which were released at the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting in San Francisco, suggest that the team had found many species that are new to science.
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