Marine Science Affairs 



the water for check-out early this year. The CURV III will be a research 

 and development tool suitable for adaptation to many types of undersea 

 work as well as weapon recovery to 7,000 feet. This is an interim goal in 

 the long-range plan to develop remote unmanned work systems for 20,000 

 feet. 



A Deep Ocean Test Instrument Placement and Observation System is now 

 ready for service. It has a 7,000-foot depth capability, is equipped with a 

 TV camera, still cameras, a data and command telemetry package, and 

 flood lights, and can provide 15 KW electrical power on the bottom. This 

 device will provide for monitoring and control of engineering investigations 

 on the sea floor. 



The recent loss of two SNAP- 19 nuclear generators from an aborted 

 NIMBUS space launch and their subsequent recovery in 300 feet of water, 

 using a submersible, off the California coast emphasized the importance 

 of an ocean engineering capability. 



Other developments in the Navy program during 1968 included: 



— environmental testing of electric motors and insulating fluids to 

 study electrical characteristics as affected by contaminants and pres- 

 sure cycling; 

 — initiation of a development plan for glass pressure hulls; 

 — testing of explosion-actuated anchor with a holding power of 50,000 



pounds in 1,300 feet of water; 

 — progress in fabrication techniques for using titanium in deep sub- 

 mergence vehicles ; 

 — laboratory testing of a 5j/2-foot diameter, clear plastic sphere in- 

 tended to carry an observer to a depth of 600 feet; 

 — development of semi-automatic, portable, ultrasonic testing devices 



for detecting internal discontinuities in hulls and hull weldments; 

 — launching of the deep research vehicles Sea Cliff and Turtle with a 



depth capability of 6,500 feet; and 

 —initiation of construction of an ocean simulation laboratory, capable 

 of testing entire unmanned diving systems and equipment subsystems 

 to depths of 2,000 feet. 

 Of particular interest is an industry-government program, TEKTITE, 

 sponsored by the General Electric Company and by Interior, Navy, Coast 

 Guard, NASA, and the Smithsonian Institution, to place four scientists on 

 the ocean floor under saturated diving conditions for a period of 60 days. 

 This program will provide data on man living and working under stressful, 

 isolated conditions in a shallow water, ambient temperature habitat. New 

 engineering technology in the emplacement and operation of large habitats 

 on the ocean floor will be developed, with operation of the program sched- 

 uled this year near the Virgin Islands. 



Complementing government efforts during the past year were sub- 

 mersible development activities of industry, marked by the completion of 



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