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Distance (yd) 

 Figure 9. Bottom profile at spiiere location directly below surface launch. 



A soil sample was obtained at the depth of 

 4,100 feet near Sphere 5. Data from the core are 

 presented in Appendix B, Table B-1. 



INSPECTIONS 



Three inspection visits have been made to view 

 as many spheres as possible. Of the 18 spheres, 15 

 have been viewed once, and of those 15, five have 

 been viewed twice. 



The first and third inspections were made by the 

 Naval Submarine Development Group One using the 

 submersible Turtle. The second inspection was made 

 by Scripps Institution of Oceanography using the 

 Remote Underwater Manipulator (RUM). 



Turtle is a manned submersible capable of 

 operating to depths of 6,500 feet. During the 

 inspections with the submersible, however, those 

 spheres at depths greater than 3,800 feet were not 

 inspected because of the possibility of implosion of a 

 test sphere. Investigators with the Turtle were 



successful in inspecting Spheres 7-18. The spheres at 

 greater depths (1-6) were to be inspected with the 

 unmanned RUM vehicle. Within the time available for 

 the inspection cruise with RUM, Spheres 3-5 were 

 inspected successfully; the remaining spheres (1, 2, 

 and 6) have not been inspected. 



Data collected during the inspections are given 

 in Table 4. The chain link count is the number of 

 links of chain suspended off the seafloor by the 

 buoyant spheres. If a sphere was found imploded or if 

 anything unusual was observed, this information was 

 recorded. Figures 10 and 1 1 show an uncoated sphere 

 and a coated sphere tethered off the seafloor. 



RESULTS 



Implosion 



Two spheres, 3 and 7, have imploded. Fragments 

 of Sphere 3 were observed during the RUM inspec- 

 tion to be scattered over an area of what appeared to 



10 



