164 



the ultimate objective of a hole to the mantle. Bascom also clearly 

 envisioned not one hole to the mantle but several, at several different 

 locations.^ 



Thus, by late spring, 1959, the NSF was engaged in funding an 

 earth science project originating with those responsible for review- 

 ing earth science projects submitted to NSF. The proposal was sub- 

 mitted to NSF under the aegis of the National Academy of Sciences, 

 responsible by charter for providing advice to agencies of the Govern- 

 ment. The project itself was under the direction and management 

 of an academy committee (AMSOC), organized on an ad hoc basis 

 for the purpose, with members drawn from both the academic and 

 the Government communities.^ 



The funding was provided by NSF and the technical direction was 

 supplied in part by a full-time executive secretary (later "technical 

 director") of AMSOC and in part by the conunittee itself that met 

 occasionally and sometimes adopted policy positions on the project 

 that differed from those of its full-time staff. Such a loose-knit orga- 

 nization would be tolerable for a small and short-lived project, a policy 

 review, or an evaluation of a proposal ; it was clearly unsuited for the 

 direction of a long-term, difficult, costly, and exceedingly complex 

 undertaking. The enthusiasm and optimism of Bascom are revealed in 

 these early stages of the project ; although his words convey a tech- 

 nically precise description of the difficulties (as well as of the scientific 

 gains) of the project, emphasis was on feasibility rather than obstacles. 



Moreover, the role of the NSF in the undertaking was not unequivo- 

 cal. Although instructed in its charter not to operate its own labora- 

 tories, the Foundation seemed to be skirting close to the edge of this 

 forbidden territory. Not only was the project conceived in its cham- 

 bers ; later on, the project was to be placed in the hands of a commercial 

 organization paid by the Foundation and acting under its technical 

 instructions. 



Mohole's administrative grotoing pains 



With NSF funding, AMSOC prepared its feasibility report on 

 Project Mohole, issued in September 1959.'^ It noted that there were 

 places where the "Moho" was only about 31,000 feet below the surface of 

 the ocean — the ocean being some 15,000 feet deep. At one such location, 

 the Clipperton Island area in the Pacific Ocean, the Moho was reported 



s Willard Bascom. The Mohole. Scientific American (April 1959, vol. 200, No. 4), 

 pp. 41-49. 



« Members of AMSOC at this time included : 



(Gordon G. LIU, Chairman ; Geophysics Branch, Office of Naval Research, Wash- 

 ington, D.C. 

 George Colchagoff, Air Force Research and Development Command, Andrews Air 



Force Base, Md. 

 Maurice Ewing, Lament Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, 



N.Y. 

 William B. Heroy, The Geotechnical Corp., Dallas. Tex. 



Harry- H. Hess, Department of Geology. Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. 

 Harr.v S. Ladd. U.S. Geological Survey. Washington, D.C. 



Arthur E. Maxwell, Geophysics Branch, Office of Naval Research, Washington, D.C. 

 Walter Munk, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif. 

 iRoger Revelle, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. La Jolla, Calif. 

 William W. Rnbcy, U.S. Geological Survey, Washinerton, D.C. 

 Joshua I. Tracey, Jr., U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C. 

 Leonard S. Wilson, Office of the Chief of Research and Development, U.S. Army, 



Washington, D.C. 

 Willard Bascom, Technical Director. 

 T National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council. AMSOC Committee. 

 "Drilling Through the Earth's Crust : A Study of the Desirability and Feasibility of 

 Drilling a Hole to the Mohorovicic Discontinuity." Conducted by the AMSOC Committee, 

 Sept. 1, 1959. (Washington, National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, 

 1959, publication 717), IS pages plus appendix. 



