136 OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 



Jj.. Devices j or operations under the sea. 



A number of operations on the floor of the deep ocean appear best 

 solved by the use of robot, remotely operated equipment. As an 

 outgrowth of problems encountered in naval project termed ''Artemis," 

 a vehicle described as the Remote Underwater Manipulator (RUM) 

 has been designed and recently put into successful operation. It 

 resembles a tank and is powered and controlled remotely by means of 

 lightweight coaxial cable. Mobility is achieved on tracked wheel 

 assemblies to which is affixed a mechanical arm similar in most re- 

 spects to the type of manipulator used for remotely handling radio- 

 active substances. The RUM vehicle can carry a payload of 1,000 

 pounds without exceeding a bearing capacity of 1.20 pounds per square 

 inch. It can maintain a speed of 2.6 knots and will travel to the limits 

 of its five-mile-long cable. Its total weight is 24,220 pounds. Guid- 

 ance and control are accomplished from a shore-based operating 

 station, and through the use of underwater television and illumina- 

 tion the operator will be able to view operations of the vehicle so as 

 to make effective use of the prosthetic arm.^^ 



5. Project Mohole 



Because what lies beneath the Earth's crust, 7 to 15 miles from the 

 surface, is of such vital importance to the understanding of the origin 

 and geophysical processes of the Earth, plans are now being made to 

 drill du-ectly through the crust into the mantle. This program, dubbed 

 "Project Mohole," derives its name from the Mohorovicic discon- 

 tinuity which represents the interface between the more familiar crust 

 and the (as yet) unseen mantle. 



Oil wells have been successfully drilled to approximately 26,000 

 feet, which is far short of the 100,000 feet at which the discontinuity is 

 estimated to lie below the surface of continental masses. In the oceans, 

 however, this discontinuity rises to within 15,000 feet of the ocean bed. 

 It is thus proposed to undertake the drillmg at sea so as to reduce by a 

 significant amount the depth of hole requu'ed. 



With amelioration of the drilling problem, the sea location generates 

 another problem — -that of operating in deep water. Offshore wells 

 on the Continental Shelf are seldom in water over 170 feet. The known 

 existence of oil in deeper water, perhaps 1,500 feet off the coast of 

 California, has stimulated feasibilit}" studies at sea by drilling from 

 a floating barge. But Project Mohole visualizes drilling in 15,000 

 feet of water. Lessons from this experience have direct application 

 to off-shore drilling and could very well la}^ the technological founda- 

 tion for future operations in deeper water. 



6. Salvage 



Man has always sought treasure, and the lure of easy wealth from 

 sunken ships has fascinated many an adventurer. Few, however, 

 found the profits they expected, for the salvage in any but the shallow- 

 est of protected waters (where shipwreck is least likely to occur) has 

 proved enormously difficult. At that, operations have almost always 

 been limited by the depths to which human divers could descend to 

 work — linked to the surface by an air-fiUed umbilical cord. 



" Further details are developed in Artemis Report No. G of the Marine Physical Laboratory, Scripps 

 Institution of Oceanography. 



