14 



relatively well indirectly, but except for the upper few meters of 

 the oceans, you must enter it. 



Ironically, as we stand on the threshold of the 21st century, the 

 inhabitants of the earth are faced with a similar situation. We 

 have learned in the last 20 years enough about the innerspace to 

 realize that fundamental questions in chemistry, biology, and geolo- 

 gy can only be answered unless we develop and utilize technologies 

 to enter the vast global innerspace and the seabed that lies be- 

 neath it. 



To give you one example of the nature of the compelling scientif- 

 ic questions that face us, let me just say that we know enough 

 about the biology of our planet and of the oceans to realize that 

 our biggest gap in our understanding of its biology is the biology of 

 the innerspace. We have learned enough to know that the greatest 

 biomass and the greatest diversity of communities exists within the 

 ocean. Significant solutions to fundamental societal questions such 

 as toxic waste dumping or the global carbon cycle will be inad- 

 equately addressed if we don't properly characterize and under- 

 stand the dynamics of this biomass that exists within our inner- 

 space. 



We are fortunate in this country to have on our side to address 

 these significant scientific questions a robust scientific community 

 of trained investigators in chemistry, biology, and geology scattered 

 at several hundred U.S. academic institutions. For example, in the 

 last five years, over 1,200 of these investigators have made dives on 

 our submersible Alvin addressing significant scientific questions. 

 The technological assets that are so necessary to provide the cogni- 

 tive, manipulative and interactive capabilities needed to carry out 

 scientific experiments in the abyss are fortunately in place in the 

 U.S. community. On one hand, we have the tried-and-true work- 

 horse Alvin, which Sylvia talked about, with a limitation of 4,000 

 meters. This workhorse has been serving U.S. scientists for over 20 

 years and has made over 2,000 dives. It is a national facility. It is 

 funded by a tripartite agreement from the Office of Naval Re- 

 search, NOAA-NURP Program, and NSF. It was recognized by 

 these agencies some 20 years ago that if this facility was going to 

 survive, it had to be a national facility, and Woods Hole Oceano- 

 graphic Institution has ably managed that facility in the succeed- 

 ing years. 



We have two other deep diving submersibles in our quiver. They 

 are managed by the U.S. Navy, and historically, unfortunately, 

 they have been not particularly productive in terms of the needs of 

 the research community. The submersible Turtle has a depth limi- 

 tation of 3,000 meters; the submersible Sea Cliff, 6,000 meters. For- 

 tunately, in the last couple of years, NOAA-NURP has been work- 

 ing with the Navy to better manage those assets, and there is a 

 real hope and expectation on the part of the scientific community 

 that with NURP's involvement, access and reliability of the Sea 

 Cliff and its 6,000 meter capability will be available to the commu- 

 nity. It is important to keep in mind that those 2,000 meters of ad- 

 ditional depth capability that we gain with Sea Cliff over Alvin 

 permits us to access 98 percent of the watery abyss with that 6,000 

 meter capability, whereas with Alvin and its 4,000 meter capabil- 

 ity, we can only access approximately 42 percent of the watery 



