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Boaty McBoatface Is Back From Its Successful Maiden Voyage

Everyone's favorite yellow robotic submersible made it home to the U.K. after it collected data near Antarctica last week.
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Boaty McBoatface is back from its first expedition.

Everyone's favorite yellow robotic submersible made it home to the U.K. from Antarctica last week.

And scientists say it brought back some "unprecedented data" about some of the coldest ocean waters on the planet.

Boaty's maiden voyage took it to the Orkney Passage, about 500 miles from the Antarctic Peninsula.

And during the seven-week mission, the unmanned sub helped researchers gather data on the passage's temperature, water flow and underwater turbulence.

The specific way Boaty moves underwater let it collect information scientists couldn't get before.

And researchers say they hope the new data will help them understand how the ocean is responding to global warming.

Boaty's first expedition came about a year after an online competition came up with its unique name.

The moniker was originally supposed to go to a British research ship.

But after the contest, embarrassed officials decided to name their new polar research ship after naturalist Sir David Attenborough instead.