William Stone (caver)

William Stone (b. 1952), known as Bill Stone, is one of the world's foremost expeditionary cavers, exploring deep caves, sometimes with remotely operated vehicles. He has participated in over 44 international expeditions. Stone's dream is to one day explore interplanetary space and to be involved in the first privately funded lunar colonycite web|url= http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/9905/profile.html|title=Bill Stone, High-tech Explorer] .

Biography

Stone, who earned a Ph.D. in Engineering, is President and CEO of Stone Aerospacecite web|url= http://www.stoneaerospace.com|title=Stone Aerospace] . While doing this work, he is on leave as leader of the Construction Metrology and Automation group at NIST in Gaithersburg, Marylandcite web|url= http://www2.bfrl.nist.gov/profiles/profiles.asp?lastname=stone|title=William C. Stone's webpage at NIST] . He has developed a highly advanced AUV, DepthX, to explore the world's deepest cavescite web|url= http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/a2b27dedc9950110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html?s_prop16=|title=Robot Subs in Space] . This has evolved into a new and entirely separate project with Professor Peter Doran of the University of Illinois at Chicago named ENDURANCE (Environmentally Non-Disturbing Under-ice Robotic ANtarctiC Explorer); it is funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation to explore Antarctica's Lake Bonney.

One of Stone's underground adventures (in the storied Sistema Huautla in Oaxaca, Mexico) is chronicled in his book, "Beyond the Deep: The Deadly Descent Into the World's Most Treacherous Cave" (2002)cite web|url= http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Deep-Deadly-Descent-Treacherous/dp/0446527092|title="Beyond the Deep: The Deadly Descent Into the World's Most Treacherous Cave" Amazon.com webpage] , which he co-authored with Barbara am Ende and Monte Paulsen.

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bn6Gel7yEs Video of Bill Stone's presentation at TED conference]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5797001505961854840 Video: Journey Towards The Center Of The Earth, Google TechTalk, July 2006]

Persondata
NAME= Stone, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Caver
DATE OF BIRTH=1953
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=