PROGRAM PLAN 



The research and development program for the acrylic plastic capsule 

 was conceived to progress through five consecutive phases that upon their 

 successful completion would result in a proven 66-inch-prototype capsule 

 for incorporation into the operational winch-down NEMO system. 



Phase 1 — Develop an engineering design that will permit using a 

 spherical acrylic plastic capsule as a safe, man-rated, pressure-resistant hull. 



Phase 2 — Develop a reliable fabrication process for the construction 

 of small-scale as well as large-scale, acrylic plastic capsules according to the 

 design of Phase 1 . 



Phase 3 — Using scale models, evaluate experimentally (a) the design 

 and fabrication process of the acrylic plastic capsule and (b) the performance 

 of acrylic plastic as the main load carrying structural material. 



Phase 4 — Validate the experimental data generated with small-scale 

 models by fabricating and testing a large-scale prototype NEMO capsule. 



Phase 5 — Develop a concept for the operational NEMO system that, 

 besides the capsule subsystem, incorporates the life-support, winch, power 

 supply, and control subsystems. 



Since the successful completion of the study required facilities and 

 personnel at NMC, Pacific Missile Range (PMR), and NCEL, a joint project 

 was formulated between the three activities. The division of responsibility 

 was according to area of specialization as follows: 



Phase 1 



Design 



NMC and NCEL 



Phase 2 



Fabrication 



PMR 



Phase 3 



Model Tests 



NCEL 



Phase 4 



Prototype Tests 



NCEL 



Phase 5 



System Concept 



NMC 



Since the study was exploratory with very modest funding, the coordination 

 of the effort between the three activities was to be performed at the working 

 level. All technical decisions were to be made on the basis of a consensus of 

 engineering judgment expressed by the project personnel. 



