OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 299 



Mr. LiLL. We suspect the Russians are. We have no direct evi- 

 dence, however, that they are. They expressed a great deal of interest 

 ui tins project at a scientific meeting in Toronto in 1957 



They announced they had the equipment to drill to the mantle and 

 tnat tliey had the capability of using the equipment. 



Since that time we have discovered that the Soviet Academy does 

 have a branch located out in the center of Asia which is dedicated to 

 the problems of deep drilling. How old this branch of the academy 

 is 1 have no idea. *^ 



It may be a number of years old, and it might be a brandnew branch. 



Ihey have also carried out seismic explorations in the Sea of Japan 



fashton'"' connected with the deep drilling project in some 



In the Sea of Japan they find a depth to the mantle is roughly 10 

 kilometers, which means it is oceanic. 



Some scientists in Great Britain are quite interested in the proiect. 

 VV e have no evidence they plan to do any drillino- 



inwpfr '? l^'^' '''^^'^i'^ '^""f ^o^^cemed that is^'about the size of the 

 "ro%:tf iiskinJ." '""^'^'-^^ ^' ""''' ""''^'^ ^^^-- P-P--g - 

 Mr. Oliver. That is all I have, Mr. Chairman 



bv^Tulv^rnf iom '' f-'^f ^V^ P^'^'^ ^ ^' ^'^P^^^^^^ to be completed 

 by July 1 of lObO, which leads me to inquire as to whether or not vou 

 have anytlung concrete to propose in the way of legislation to enable 

 the committee to carry on from that point ? 



Mr. LiLL. We have no concrete proposals to make in this connec- 

 hp't; h 'v^'^^\*^' ^^'' assistance the committee can give us would 

 m this'ta^d '''^^'''' '^^^^ ^'^^ '^'^ GovemSient agenci^ 



show ^n tElat '^^ ^''''^'' ^^^^^™^^^^ ^^ --^^ ce/ainr;;iTh1 

 Mr. Pelly. I suppose the entire cost of the project would not be 



much more than the cost of firing one rocket 



Mr LiLL. I would guess, without being too firm in my knowledge 



Mr. Pelly I understand a rocket costs something over $10 million 



u3'i ^V^^- ^''^ V''^ ^ ^'^^^ ^'ockets, then, just the^ost of th^rS 

 itselt and no development costs. iock&z 



tiv^^proj^^^^^^^ ^ '^""^ '''"'' '""'""'^^ ^''^^^ ^ ^''y i^^Pir^^g ^nd imagina- 



Xow that you mention the Soviet Union's interest, I am sure that 

 competitive spirit would probably be helpful in getting sm^por? 



Mr. LiLL. I dont know what tlieir intentions are, afid I probablv 

 never will know unless they actually drill a hole ^ ooably 



It seems to me they would take considerable 'delight in beating us tn 

 this project, since drilling is something we are rSther proSt in 



Mr Pelly. We are always apathetic until we get somethinf lik^ 

 a sputnik up m the air. ^ ^i^meuimg like 



38170^59 20 



