UNDERSEA TECHNOLOGY 



69 



he returns to the surface after days or weeks of useful work on the ocean 

 bottom. 



The first experiments in the field of saturation diving were begun by 

 the U. S. Navy in 1957, using a standard decompression chamber and then 

 the climate-altitude chamber installed at the Naval Medical Research 

 Laboratory in New London, Connecticut. These experiments were given 

 the code name Genesis I, and the first phases were concerned with the re- 

 actions of animals under pressure. After four years of experimental work 

 it was shown that while test animals could not survive normal air at a 

 pressure of seven atmospheres for more than 35 hours, they could tolerate 

 an equivalent exposure to high pressure while breathing a synthetic gas. 



NON-NAVY EXPERIMENTS 



U.S. NAVY EXPERIMENTS 



r 



Link-National Geo. Society 



Feasibility J 



Reinforcement A 



V 



One man, 

 200 ft depth, 



1 day, 

 Sept. 1962 



Conshelf 1 



Two men, 

 33 ft depth, 



7 days, 

 Sept. 1962 



Conshelf 2 



Five men, 36 ft depth, 



30 days, and 



two men, 85 ft depth, 



7 days, 



June 1963 



Link 



Two men, 



432 ft depth, 



2 days, 



June 1964 



Conshelf 3 



Four men, 

 328 ft depth, 



22 days 

 Sept. 1965 



GENESIS I 

 (Simulated Saturated Dives! 



k^0^ ' 1. Animals, 7 



/ synthetic g 



atmospheres, 

 gas environment. 



2. Three men, sea level, 

 helium/oxygen, 6 days, 

 late 1962 



3. Three men, 100 ft simulated 

 depth, helium/oxygen, 



6 days, early 1963 



4. Three men, 200 ft simulated 

 depth, helium/oxygen, 



2 days, 1963 



~<:^ 



SEALAB I 



Four men, 



193ft depth, 



helium/oxygen, 



1 1 days, 



July 1964 



SEALAB II 



30 men, 



205 ft depth, 



im/nitrogen/oxygen, 



1 5 days, 



Aug. 1965 



^C5^ 



40 men, 



430 ft depth, 



helium/oxygen, 



12 days, 



scheduled for Spring 1 968 



Proof of 

 Concept 

 Feasibility 



^ 



J 



~\ 



J 



Physiological 

 Data and Work 

 Proficiency 

 Data 



Physiological 

 Data, Work 

 Proficiency 

 and Salvage 

 Capability 



Major U. S. Navy and non-Navy experiments which helped lead the way 

 to an advanced diving system 



