94 



The MOU expired at the end of 1992 and a new version was up for renewal in 

 December of last year. Although NSF and ONR had signed off on the new agreement by 

 December 1992 and although NOAA had verbally agreed to the terms, NOAA did not sign 

 the agreement because they had no assurance that they could meet their 1993 commitment 

 In the end NOAA was able to meet a substantial portion of the commitment level specified 

 in the 1993 MOU, but not until the ALVIN program had been held hostage during the first 

 several months of 1993. As far as I know, the MOU is still unsigned by NOAA. 



Question #8: How can the conflict between ALVIN and the Jason-Medea ROV system 

 be reconciled? How much funding is needed to support both systems and how should it be 

 allocated? 



I believe that the conflict is more apparent than real. The science of the abyss needs 

 both systems in the near term. I enclose a copy of a letter that Craig Dorman and I sent to 

 Science in the hope of clarifying this question. 



To fully fund both systems to the extent that they are utilized during the year with 

 full investigative schedules, the support level of the National Deep Submergence Facility at 

 WHOI would have to be about 4 million (approximately double the present budget). 



The allocation of resources should be governed by the peer review process of 

 science proposals submitted to conduct ALVIN and Jason-Medea research. Since there is 

 an abundance of compelling science to be done in the abyss and since each system is well 

 suited to do certain things, I suspect there would be strong proposal pressure to use both 

 systems and that they would both be well utilized. 



Question #9: What can the committee do to facilitate the development of a national 

 strategy and commitment to deep submergence research? 



In the short term, make sure that there is unwavering support by NURP for the 

 National Facility at WHOI. There is no need to talk about the future if there is no 

 tomorrow. 



In the longer term, find a mechanism that will bring federal agency representatives, 

 scientists and engineers together to develop a national strategy for deep submergence 

 research. Perhaps the most effective catalyst would be for Congress to mandate that there 

 will be a national commitment to explore, characterize and understand the global abyss and 

 its underlying seabed. Create a mandate and they will come. 



