"J.J." Tours The

By MICHAEL D. LEMONICK

Crystal chandeliers perfectly intact; stalactites of rust hanging from ceilings and dripping down walls; the grand staircase, minus the stairs; the ship's wheel, the wood eaten away but the brass fittings gleaming like new. These were some of the eerie images that emerged last week as a camera- equipped robot wandered through the Titanic, the first visitor to enter the "unsinkable" ship since an iceberg sent her and more than 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers to the bottom of the sea on her maiden voyage in April 1912. "It was a breathtaking experience," says Marine Geologist Robert Ballard, 44, who located the wreck last September some 350 miles southeast of Newfoundland and 13,000 ft. beneath the surface, and returned last week to explore her.

Ballard, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, joined Navigator Martin Bowen and Pilot Ralph Hollis in the research submersible Alvin as it began a 2 1/2-hour descent from the mother ship Atlantis II to the bottom of the frigid North Atlantic. It was the first of twelve dives planned for the current mission, designed to survey the Titanic while testing new imaging equipment. As they neared the sea floor, Ballard said, "we came in on a wall of black steel. It seemed endless in all directions." Alvin skirted the Titanic's knife-edge bow, where the great liner's name was obscured by "rivers of rust," then explored the foredeck and port side, where the scientists spotted portholes, the glass unbroken. They saw where the Titanic had split apart, just behind the third smokestack.

But the real excitement came the following day. On Alvin's third dive, the scientists deployed "Jason Jr.," a self-propelled, lawn-mower-size robot armed with still and video cameras. Guided by Bowen, the robot -- nicknamed "J.J." -- made oceanographic history by actually entering the Titanic. It glided down the ship's grand staircase at the end of a 250-ft. tether through which it transmitted live images to the three scientists in Alvin's cramped cabin. There was nothing left of the staircase itself; like much of the Titanic's celebrated woodwork, it had long since been devoured by wood-boring organisms. On every deck, though, exquisite glass and crystal chandeliers had been miraculously spared in the ship's violent descent. No human remains were seen. Said Ballard: "You have to remember that anything that's organic was eaten."

As the week progressed, J.J. continued to perform spectacularly. It followed the mast up to the crow's nest and found an undamaged brass mast light. The robot looked into the windows of the officers' quarters and propelled itself through the first-class entranceway to glimpse the ship's gymnasium. It went over the side and made an unsuccessful attempt to squeeze through portholes on the promenade deck. Said Ballard: "He has to go on a diet." There was an anxious moment as J.J.'s tether caught on a jagged piece of metal, but Bowen maneuvered the robot back and forth until it pulled free.

Despite the continuing marvel of viewing the Titanic, the scientists never forgot they were touring what is, in effect, a mass grave. "You look at parts of the ship and you get flashbacks -- that Captain (Edward) Smith stood here and (Multimillionaire John Jacob) Astor was there, and that's where they were loading the women and children," Ballard told the Boston Herald. "You remember the staircase scene with people going up and down, and you remember the band playing."

At week's end, J.J. was still working tirelessly, finding chamber pots and corked champagne bottles, a single shoe, and a shiny-handled safe sporting an ornate crest. Alvin was called in to try and open the safe with its robot arm, but failed. Still on the agenda were plans to investigate new areas of the Titanic's main section, as well as debris from the wreck. "I'm tickled by how well Jason Jr. has done," said Ballard. "We're really in great shape."

With reporting by Joelle Attinger/Woods Hole