Approximately 70 unsolicited proposals have been 
received by the MUS&T Office during July-October 
1972. The proposals are from academia, industry, 
and Government. The total funding requirement 
represented is in excess of $4 million (with about 
$2.8 million for platform leases). The MUS&T fund- 
ing policy is that general funding is used to provide 
access to facilities and to pay special costs associ- 
ated with the operation and not salaries of primary 
investigators. If proposals were solicited or general 
invitations to use certain platforms were issued, there 
would be a substantial increase in responses and re- 
quests for platform utilization. 
UNDERSEA LABORATORY SYSTEMS STUDY 
During late FY 1972, the MUS&T Office awarded 
a grant to the Engineering Design and Analysis 
Laboratory of the University of New Hampshire 
(UNH) to determine “The Impact of the Require- 
ments of the U.S. Scientific Diving Community 
on the System Design, Operation and Management 
of Undersea Laboratories.” * The following specific 
objectives were established: 
° The final report was delivered in January 1973. 
Lockout submersible PC-15C with divers. 
—To identify and classify the types of research 
and development programs that would use the 
systems 
—To classify the potential missions into groups 
of missions with each group requiring similar 
capabilities 
—To estimate the utilization rate of systems by 
groups 
—To survey the state-of-the-art of habitats and 
habitat technology 
—To evaluate systems against mission require- 
ments 
—To develop preliminary designs of selected 
concepts 
The effort involved visiting recognized scientists 
throughout the United States and concentrated on 
undersea laboratories (habitats with scientific work 
space). At the same time, the utilization of scien- 
tific divers and submersibles was also reviewed. 
The scientists interviewed receive support from 
many Federal agencies. The results of the UNH 
effort indicated that, if the programs were imple- 
mented, there would be a need for two submersibles 
without lockout, one submersible with lockout, three 
transportable habitats, and two scuba’ ships in addi- 
tion to the currently accessible facilities (HYDRO- 
LAB, PRINUL, ALVIN, and SEA LINK). The 
geographic distribution of these facility requirements 
is shown in figure 2. A distinction is made between 
transportable and mobile habitats: A transportable 
habitat can be readily moved between missions, 
whereas a mobile habitat is one which can move 
under its own power during a manned mission. There 
is a general indication that, as utilization increases, 
there will be a need for mobility in addition to 
transportability. 
With respect to the undersea laboratory, figure 3 
shows the anticipated regional utilization and the na- 
ture of the underwater research. “Prime days” are the 
estimated days per year which could be utilized; “po- 
tential days” represent usage which would be antici- 
pated to follow shortly thereafter if the laboratory 
were in place. The UNH recommended a Northeast 
system, a Pacific system, and a Florida-based system 
to satisfy estimated needs. The needs of the svuth- 
east Caribbean region and gulf region are partly 
serviced by HYDROLAB and PRINUL,; however, 
the study noted the HYDROLAB’s depth limita- 
tion and PRINUL’s restriction to Puerto Rican 
waters. 
