Engineers at Rutgers had successfully deployed gliders several dozen times in places all over the world. Glider missions often lasted over a month and covered distances of 500 km or more. But this represents a grander challenge.

This is the first time a robot will cross the Atlantic. The robot will make its way by gliding beneath the ocean's surface and will provide a profile of the oceans floor.

You can follow the day-to-day operations and progress of the glider at a dedicated website of the Rutgers COOL here: http://rucool.marine.rutgers.edu/atlantic/.

You cn also follow it on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RU27