chapter 4 

 MAJOR PROGRAM AREAS 



INTRODUCTION 



Over forty programs were carried out during Project Sealab II. These programs covered 

 the following major areas: 



1. Physiology 



2. Human performance 



3. Experimental wet suits 



4. Habitat engineering evaluation 



5. Oceanography 



6. Salvage 



7. Benthic laboratory 



8. Mining technology 



9. Porpoise utilization 



10. Dietetics 



11. Mk-VI semiclosed circuit scuba evaluation 



12. Atmosphere contaminants 



The general concepts and major results of each program are discussed in the following 

 sections. 



PHYSIOLOGY 



Previous physiological studies, conducted during Projects Genesis and Sealab I, indicated 

 that most physiological parameters monitored would show no significant change under condi- 

 tions of high pressure and exotic gas mixtures. Therefore, only those vital functions which 

 might assist topside control in medical management of the experiment were monitored. These 

 studies included daily blood analysis, inspection of urine and saliva, pulmonary function, elec- 

 trocardiographic recordings, body temperature control, exercise tolerance, and routine physi- 

 cal tests (Chapter 33). 



By and large, the test results were essentially negative. However, there were suggestive 

 trends (Chapter 28) in certain areas which will warrant further intensive investigation. Atten- 

 tion was particularly directed to examination of the "stress enzymes," since these indicators, 

 together with the corticosteroid determinations, had demonstrated greatest liability during 

 past human exposure. As is seen in Chapter 32, these data give provocative evidence of an in- 

 creased stress effect on the aquanauts during the first three to five days of undersea exposure, 

 with a slow return to normal valucE. It would appear that stress indicators are probably the 

 most sensitive physiological warning signals available to topside monitors. This fact will be 

 suitably exploited in future undersea programs. 



Physiologically, the most critical area of the project was decompression. Decompression 

 schedules may be based on mathematical calculation; however, the validity of such schedules 

 can only be established empirically, since there is no simple, accurate method of determining 

 inert-gas tension in tissue. 



During Sealab II decompression runs, a test program applying gas chromatography to de- 

 termine the dissolved gas levels in urine was conducted (Chapter 31). The results indicate that 

 a high correlation exists between the amount of dissolved gas in the urine and the ambient at- 

 mospheric concentration. Application of this observation to decompression schedules is under 

 serious consideration. 



14 



