FRONTIERS EST OCEANIC RESEARCH 21 



in time. Would you have any objection if we submitted this state- 

 ment of yours for the record and then you give us a brief analysis of 

 what you want to testify to and taking such part of this statement as 

 you like ? Is that agreeable to you ? 



Dr. Kechnitzer. Fine, thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Anfuso. Proceed. 



Mr. Fulton. May I likewise welcome the doctor, and say we are 

 glad to have somebody in a field where we are clearly ahead of the 

 Russians. 



STATEMENT OF DR. ANDREAS B. RECHNITZER, SCIENTIST IN 

 CHARGE OF THE BATHYSCAPH PROGRAM, ACCOMPANIED BY 

 CAPT. JOHN M. PHELPS, U.S. NAVY, COMMANDING OFFICER AND 

 DIRECTOR; LT. DON WALSH, U.S. NAVY, OFFICER IN CHARGE, 

 "TRIESTE"; AND LT. LAWRENCE A. SHUMAZER, U.S. NAVY, 

 ASSISTANT OFFICER IN CHARGE "TRIESTE," U.S. NAVY ELEC- 

 TRONICS LABORATORY, SAN DIEGO, CALIF. 



Dr. Rechnitzer. I am Andreas Rechnitzer 



Mr. Anfuso. Excuse me, Doctor, would you like to have the other 

 gentlemen sit by you ? 



Dr. Rechnitzer. Please. 



Mr. Anfuso. Will you come up, gentlemen, the gentlemen I have 

 mentioned, and sit around the table ? 



Proceed, sir. 



Dr. Rechnitzer. Thank you. 



I am Andreas Rechnitzer, oceanographer and scientist in charge of 

 the bathyscaph, U.S. Navy Electronics Laboratory, San Diego. 



Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, it is a j^leasure to 

 be here again and to bring you a more detailed account of our more 

 recent diving activities in the Pacific Ocean. 



We are now talking about facts and what is going on currently in 

 deep oceanic research. 



As you know, the U.S. Navy bathyscaph Trieste successfully pene- 

 trated to the deepest known location in the oceans on January 23, 

 1960. 



Carrying two men 7 miles below the ocean's surface this scientific 

 breakthrough opens up all of the oceans' depths to exploration and 

 exploitation. 



In the execution of this feat and the preliminary dives leading up 

 to the achieving of the ultimate in deep dives, the bathyscaph pro- 

 gram has yielded scientific and technical information of major im- 

 portance to future manned exploration of the oceans. 



The Honorable George P. Miller, member of this committee, recog- 

 nized the importance of this deepest dive and acknowledged the feat 

 by an entry in the appendix of the Congressional Record published 

 February 3, 1960. 



Herein he acknowledged the relatively unheralded accomplishments 

 of the U.S. Project Nekton, that included in its program the deepest 

 known possible descent by man, that is, to the bottom of the Challenger 

 Deep, 35,800 feet. 



55438—60 4 



