Schlosser 



the laboratory and those to be externally mounted on DEEPSTAR 

 were then encapsulated within their individual pressure cases. All 

 pressure cases were proofed beyond the minimums established by 

 the Safety Certification requirements. Each connponent was then 

 tested in the environment by means of a dockside evaluation. Those 

 items performing mechanical functions were tested at pressure in 

 a 20, OOO^si pressure vessel. As each individual component tested 

 satisfactorily, it was integrated into its particular system and a full- 

 system test made. This latter was done as a bench check; however, 

 a dockside test was always conducted when feasible. Upon installa- 

 tion of each component in DEEPSTAR, a complete functional recheck 

 was accomplished. This thorough testing procedure provided a high 

 confidence level in the instrumentation used. 



BIO-ACOUSTICS 



Bio-Acoustics aspects of the mission profiles were primarily 

 concerned with the scattering layers ' . Fig. 5 is typical of the 

 instrumentation added to DEEPSTAR for this program. The 

 "slurper", developed by the Mechanical Engineering Division at 

 NEL, is a specimen-collecting device actuated by the observer 

 within the sphere. The transducer was mounted on the brow and 

 enabled DEEPSTAR to go below the scattering layer and obtain up- 

 ward observations which could then be correlated with echo sound- 

 ings made from the surface ship. All photographic equipment was 

 utilized during scattering layer operations. For some Bio-Acoustics 

 applications, another transducer replaced the still camera (see 

 Fig. 6). A metal sphere suspended from the brow was used for 



g 



calibration of signal strength . 



GEOLOGY 



The vehicle configuration necessary to accomplish the varied 

 sea-floor studies ' ' within the mission profiles was "bare-boat" 

 (Fig. 7) or with the brow (Fig. 8). The brow was used to enhance 

 lighting for motion-picture photography by the addition of two 

 quartz-iodide lamps. The standard lighting was reconfigured for 

 these specific dives. Core samples were taken by use of the mech- 

 anical arm which would select the core from the fairing attachment 

 and drop it into the hydraulically-actuated specimen basket. This 

 method was not completely satisfactory due to the deficiencies in 

 the mechanical arm design as noted previously. However, the arm 

 did prove valuable in collecting rock and biological samples from 

 the sea floor. 



51 



