274 



WET SUITS 



period infers optimization of design. These aquanauts found the suit to be comfortable and to 

 increase their time in the water significantly. No physical measurements were obtained as to 

 skin or body-core temperature or oxygen utilization during these periods. 



Fig. 106. 



Aquanaut Jenkins wearing the electrically heated wet 

 suit near Sealab II 



It was the consensus of opinion of the nine aquanauts who used the electrically heated 

 underwater swimmer wetsuits that this type of garment was definitely useful and should be fur- 

 ther developed by improvements in compactness and ease of donning. In addition, the basic 

 conception of supplying supplemental heating as a method of increasing diving time in cold 

 water was definitely established. 



BACKGROUND 



Recent developments in mixed-gas saturation diving have permitted man to remain sub- 

 merged at depth for longer periods than ever before. The reasons for extending man's diving 

 capabilities to greater depths and longer intervals are legion. The general goal is to take ad- 

 vantage of the vast continental shelf areas for commercial exploitation and for military defense. 

 Among the ultimate specific goals are submarine rescue, deep salvage, in situ physical and 

 biological oceanographic research, oil and gas mining, mineral mining, submarine farming, and 

 many more. Many of the tasks required to accomplish the military, scientific, and commer- 

 cial goals will require the remarkably complex intelligence and dexterity of man rather than 

 machines and instruments. To perform these tasks with maximum efficiency, man needs to be 

 provided with modern diving equipment. 



The developments in diving equipment have not kept pace with the relatively recent develop- 

 ments in diving medicine and physiology that have led to projects such as Sealab EC. Saturation- 

 diving techniques enable man to remain submerged for periods of weeks rather than minutes or 

 hours as before, but he must face the severe demands of the underwater environment with 



