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construction avoids the need for continuous 

 power and achieves long range by simply 

 diving to and ascending from great depths, 

 covering 50 miles in each glide cycle, by using 

 a liquid chemical to blow the ballast tanks 

 at the base of the dive. Fifty such cycles cover 

 2,500 miles, a complete ocean transit with 

 50 passages from surface to 20,000 feet 

 through all of the physical and biological 

 strata en route, and with 50 visits to parts of 

 the seafloor never before visited. Allowing 

 three men aboard and 20 days' endurance, 

 the submersible apparently can be built and 

 operated for reasonable costs at least com- 

 parable to those for surface oceanographic 



The research siihmersiile Deep 

 Quest goes to sea aboard her surface 

 support ship Trans Quest and, once 

 in the water, receii-es an external 

 inspection prior to making a dive. 



vessels. The combination of depth and visi- 

 bility inherent in such a vehicle covdd be 

 invaluable in ocean transits for exploration 

 of the oceans. 



Information from expert observers is not 

 enough. Elaborate photographic exjuipment 

 and lighting complete with pressure hous- 

 ings have been developed for deep sea work. 

 Such equipment can be operated remotely 

 from the surface in conjunction with acous- 

 tical listening devices for describing the 

 forms and strata of life. 



Submersibles also can be fitted with therm- 

 istor probes to record temperature profiles 

 continuously. This information then can be 

 correlated with the photographic observa- 

 tions. Ultimately instruments to monitor the 

 gross chemistry of the passing sea water can 

 be fitted to the hull. Thus, a deep diving, long 

 traveling submersible becomes a complete 

 oceanographic vessel. Although there are 

 constraints on the size and weight of these 

 data collection attachments, the task is con- 

 siderably less demanding than the task scien- 

 tists face when instrumenting satellites. Free- 

 flooding equipment can be carried relatively 

 inexpensively if made neutrally buoyant. 

 Fully instrumented, such a vessel with verti- 

 cal and horizontal freedom in the water col- 

 umn should provide capabilities surpassing 

 those of some larger surface vessels. Perhaps 

 more than anything, the oceanographic sub- 

 mersible would enjoy 24-hour data collection 

 capability on a stable keel in a tran- 

 quil environment uninterrupted by weather 

 considerations. 



How deep? A 20,000-foot depth capability 

 will permit operations in more than 99 per 

 cent of the world's ocean volume with access 

 to 98 per cent of the ocean's floor, excepting 

 only the deep trenches. Nearly 10 years ago, 

 the bathyscaphe Tnente went to one of the 

 deepest parts of the ocean, approximately 



