quirements of submersible diving, Lockheed 

 Missiles and Space Corporation's DEEP 

 QUEST system will be examined (Fig. 2.4a). 

 DEEP QUEST is not necessarily the most 

 successful approach, but its 8,000-ft opera- 

 tional depth capability and support systems 

 confront and offer solutions to the majority 

 of problems encountered. (The following data 

 was attained from refs. 7 through 11.) 



ENVIRONMENTAL 

 CONSTRAINTS 



Pressure 



The manned compartment (pressure hull 

 of DEEP QUEST) consists of two intersect- 

 ing spheres welded together with a 20-inch- 

 diameter opening between the two and a 20- 

 inch-diameter opening (hatch) atop the aft 

 sphere. The spheres are 7 feet in outside 

 diameter (OD), 0.895 inch thick, and are com- 

 posed of 18 percent nickel, 200-KSI-grade 



maraging steel. A weldment of four hemi- 

 heads and interconnecting "Y" rings form 

 the basic structure. A collapse depth of 13,- 

 000 feet (5,772 psi) provides a safety factor of 

 1.6 at its operating depth of 8,000 feet (3,554 

 psi). DEEP QUEST has been designed to 

 incorporate a diver lock-out compartment 

 and a transfer bell as shown in Figure 2.4b, 

 but these are not affixed to the submersible 

 at present. 



Seawater (Corrosion Protection) 



To protect the fairings and foundations, 

 piping, variable ballast tanks, high pressure 

 air tanks, and electrical inverter/controllers, 

 a multi-coat polyurethane Laminar X-500 

 finish has been applied. The pressure hull is 

 isolated from contact with the aluminum 

 outer hull by mounting it on rubber pads and 

 clamping it down with a phenolic collar. It is 

 further protected by a mild steel anode sys- 

 tem. Whenever possible, dissimilar metals 

 are electrically isolated by non-conductive 



VIEW DOME (RECESSED) 



RUDDER 



ACCESS TRUNK 



SAIL 



NSTRUMENTATION SPHERE 

 PILOT'S SPHERE 



VERTICAL THRUSTER 



DIVER LOCK-OUT 

 CHAMBER (CON- 

 CEPTUAL 



MANIPULATOR 



VIEWPORT 



VIEWPORT 



TRANSFER BELL 

 (NOT STANDARD) 



Fig. 2.4 b) Schematic of DEEP QUEST as designed with potential diver lockout compartment and transfer bell. (LMSC) 



21 



