At the Gates of the Depths

The U.S. assault on the moon is "a glamorous effort that ranks currently with God and motherhood," cracks Astronaut Scott Carpenter, who recently turned aquanaut instead. As he sees it, the U.S. actually has far more to gain by exploring the ocean depths than by reaching for the stars.

So far, limited financial support has restricted manned undersea exploration to less than 5% of the ocean bottom. But many scientists fully back Carpenter's analysis--and a presidential imprimatur has apparently opened the gates to hydrospace for good.

Vice President Humphrey now heads a nine-man council established by the 1966 Marine Resources and Engineering Development Act, a significant parallel to the push given the outer-space program by then Vice President Johnson's involvement with the National Aeronautics and Space Council. The President's Science Advisory Committee has just released a report urging Congress to double oceanology funds to $600 million by 1971. Further recommended: a mammoth agency to oversee all oceanology--in effect creating an earthbound NASA.

Glass Subs. Last week, evidence of this bureaucratic enthusiasm surfaced at a meeting of top U.S. underwater engineers in Los Angeles. High on the oceanology agenda:

> Development of deep-diving research craft made from massive, 2 3/4-in.-thick glass spheres that provide more buoyancy and a greater strength-to-weight ratio than steel-and-titanium hulled vessels. Because glass grows stronger under increased water pressure, the spheres should be able to resist more than 30,000 lbs. per square inch, which is equivalent to depths of 66,000 ft. At that rate, the glass craft could withstand depths almost twice that of the 36,000-ft. Marianas Trench off Guam, the deepest spot known on earth.

> A top-priority Navy project for building a new fleet of deep-diving submersibles. Haunted by its ineffectualness during the Thresher disaster, and goaded by almost unlimited military possibilities, the Navy is spurring development of five "deep-submergence rescue vehicles" (DSRV), capable of working at 6,000 ft. and scheduled to be operational by 1972. Like remora fish hitching rides on sharks, the new craft will hook on to conventional nuclear sub marines and be carried along to rescue sites. Also on the drawing boards: four research subs capable of descending 20,000 ft. and opening up 98% of the ocean bottom to free-moving, manned exploration.

> The first atomic-powered deep-diver, now under way at General Dynamics' Electric Boat Division at Groton, Conn. Called NR-1, the craft has been reported to measure about 60 ft. long. Mission: to carry two scientists and a five-man crew close to the sea bottom for several weeks at a time, thus achieving more independence from the surface than any other previous research submersible.

Conquering Hydrospace. In West Palm Beach, a privately developed 22-ft-long submersible is nearing completion for a planned dive in the early fall. Designed jointly by Perry Submarine Builders, Inc., and Ocean Pioneer Edwin Link, the PLC4 will be "flown" under water by means of helicopter-like propellers at the stern and overhead. It will take two crewmen and two scuba divers to a maximum depth of 1,500 ft., where the divers can exit to the water from a pressurized compartment, returning to live aboard.

Talk of sea-bottom exploration, aquaculture (underwater agriculture) and even water-breathing, gilled humans used to be dismissed as mere rapture of the deeps. But no longer. By extending his technology from the present 400-ft. levels to 5,000 ft., man may soon gain direct access to the continental shelves and slopes. Potential result: conquest of another 10% of the earth's surface--an area roughly equal to that of the moon.

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