Chapter 7 

 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 



Sealab n Steering Committee 



INTRODUCTION 



On December 9, 1965, the Sealab n Steering Committee met as a group for the last time 

 to formulate conclusions and recommendations for Project Sealab 11. The results of this meet- 

 ing follow. 



MAJOR MAN-IN-THE-SEA CONCLUSIONS 



1. Reasonably large groups of men can live for protracted periods (15 to 30 days) at 205 ft, 

 have a large degree of autonomy, accomplish useful work, be safely decompressed, and show 

 no apparent serious adverse physiological or psychological effects. 



2. The U.S. Navy's first experience with no-decompression excursion dives from a start- 

 ing depth of 205 ft in a saturated state to a depth of 266 and 300 ft was successful. This experi- 

 ment represents an important addition to undersea diving technology. 



3. There is a clear degree of diver adaptation to cold water, as shown both by interviews 

 with the aquanauts and by predive and postdive cold-water-immersion physiological 

 measurements. 



4. Adequate protection against cold water can be obtained for extended periods by the 

 use of heated suits. Swimmers without supplementally heated suits are limited to less than 

 one hour of useful work in 47° to 54° F waters. 



5. A degradation of work capability varying between 17 and 37 percent, as compared to 

 the warm, shallow-water capability, occurs as a result of the many adverse factors encoun- 

 tered in the Sealab environment. 



6. Improved tools and techniques for the ocean environment show promise for the accom- 

 plishment of salvage tasks and other undersea work functions. 



7. Based on the analysis of the overall performance of the aquanauts, criteria can be de- 

 veloped to assist in the selection of future aquanauts. 



8. The interaction between man and porpoise has shown that to depths of 200 ft, the por- 

 poise can be extremely useful to man-in-the-sea operations. 



9. In situ living offers a new and important methodology to scientific, biological, geo- 

 logical, ocean-floor investigations. 



10. Although vastly improved over Sealab I, the habitat and much of the diving equipments 

 are still rudimentary and not yet suited for routine operations. 



11. Present state-of-the-art deep-water swimmer communications and ocean-floor navi- 

 gation systems are unacceptable for future man-in-the-sea operations. 



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