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~1'ASTER COPY. 

DO NOT Rtr:10VE FRor~~ FIt. E 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD 

SUBJECT: RV-3 Recovery Planning Meeting 

BYE-I09733-71 

Copy ~ of 15 

28 July 1971 

1. A meeting was held to plan the possible recovery of the third 

HEXAGON RV from Mission 1201. Attachment I is a list of attendees. 

Attachment II is the agenda. 

2. The' Navy proposed the use of the deep submergence vehicle 

T;rieste. At the present it is certified to a depth of 13, 000 feet. A test 

dive is planned to 'ZO, 000 feet in August. No troub.le is anticipated in 

demonstrating this capability. The location of the RV would first be determined prior to deploying the Trieste. The impact point must be determined as accurately as possible (action - SP-7). Based on the impact point. it is necessary to predict the sink rate and the effect of the 

currents on the decending RV. P.E. and McDonnell Douglas need to 

estimate the shape of the RV. the effective density to determine the location on the ocean floor and the terminal velocity to assess the penetration (action - P. E. and McDonnell). A good current profile of the 

area is available and will be supplied (action - NAVOP 03UZ). 

3. The Trieste will use a cable with a hook to retrieve the RV 

and/or take-up. p. E. and MWC are to define the potential attach points, 

the weight in water, and the weight in air (action - NRO and NAVOP). 

4. The RV will be located by a search team contracted for by 

NAVOP. 03UZ with funds supplied by the NRO. The estimate for ten days 

of search time plus four days of travel time is $lOOK. The NRO is looking into the best method of transferring the funds (action - NRO). 

5. During the recovery operation, voice contact will be available with the Trieste. They will be photographing the RV using 1600 

watt lights. They will hook the RV with the boom hook. Some advice 

BIFX 007.. 5 3 33 .. 7 1-~ 

HANDLE VI" BVEMAN 

CONTROL SYST(!M ONI...Y 
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NRO APPROVED FOR RELEASE 

DECLASSIFIED BY: CIIART 

DECLASSIFIED ON: 25 JULY 2012 

.;;.:-.. _ .. ," 

SUBJECT: RV-3 Recovery Planning Meeting 

may be necessary from HEXAGON personnel. Ninety percent of the 

ship's crew are contract civilian personnel, so this should not be a 

security problem. Probably the three men in the Trieste, four divers, 

the film processor, and the leader of the search team will need to be 

cleared (action - OSP). 

6. At a depth of less than 120 feet, the RV ITU will be covered 

with a canvas bag by the divers and transferred to the surface ship. 

The RV ITU will be placed in a light tight can, partially filled with water. 

If it is possible, an existing can will be used (action - SP-7 and OSP). 

Eastman Kodak, P.E., and McDonnell Douglas will determine the proba,ble amount of damage from an analysis of the impact, update their analYSis as a result of photographs, and obtain the equipment necessary 

to despool. The despooling will be by hand and will be a slow process. 

OSP will function as the contact point for the Navy and will coordinate 

the effort (action - aSP). 

7. The search team will start modifications on 16 August and 

start the search on 24 August. The Trieste will recover the vehicle 

sometime in September. The des pooling C?per~tion should plan on start-· 

ing about 27 September. 

8. The consensus was that there w.as a good chance of recovering the RV and that the film. would be usable with some small degradation . 

./.? 'fi>t* DONA D W. PATTERSON 

HEXAGON Sensor Subsystem Program Director 

Attachments als stated 

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S;>f:CII.L HAtlOLItJ!3 

BYE-IO'9733-71 

Page Two 

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HANDLE VIA DYEMAN 

CONTROL SY!iTCM ONLY 
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NRO APPROVED FOR RELEASE 

DECLASSIFIED BY: C/IART 

DECLASSIFIED ON: 25 JULY 2012 

SUBJECT: RV-3 Recovery Planning Meeting 

Distribution: 

Cy 1 - Col. F. S. Buzard 

Cy 2 - L/C J. P. Hillock, Jr. 

Cy 3 - Maj. R. A. Schow, Jr. 

Cy 4 - Mr. R. A. Koch 

Cy 5 - Mr. M. F. Maguire 

Cy 6 - Mr. L. Molaskev. 

Cy 7 - 15 - Internal 

BYE-I09733-71 

Page Three 

HANDLE VIA BYEMAN 

CONTROL SYSTEM ONLY 

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DECLASSIFIED ON: 25 JULY 2012 . .. ..L~ t.:> I..:t \~.;,:l-,; I.~J iJ 

SPECI.A.L I-U.NDLING 

Attachment I 

RV-3 RECOVERY PLAN 

27 July 1971 

Attendees 

Cdr.· E. E. Henifin 

LIC J. P. Hillock. Jr. 

Maj. R. A. Schow. Jr. 

Mr. R. A. Koch 

Mr. D. H. Schoessler 

,,-

, Mr. L. Molaskey 

Mr. D. W. Patterson 

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Attachment I to 

BYE-I09733-71 

HANDLE VIA BYEMAN 

CONTROL SYST~M ONLY 

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. 'j NRClAPPROVED FOR RELEASE 'i1 . DECLASSIFIED BY: C/IART 

'1 DECLASSIFIED ON: 25 JULY 2012 

! ~?ECIAL Ht·.NDLlNG 

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Attachment II 

RV-3 RECOVERY PLAN 

27 July 1971 

Agenda 

1. RE-ENTRY FOOTPRING 

2. IMPACT LOADS AND DAMAGE ASSESSMENT 

3. RECOVERY CONFIGURATION AND CONSTRAIN'TS 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

H. 

J!;QUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS 

DES POOLING AND PROCESSING 

PAYLOAD HANDLING 

TRANSPORTATION/LOGISTICS 

ORGANIZATION 

SECURITY 

SCHEDULE 

COST AND FUNDIN'G 

Attachment II to 

BYE-I09733-71 

HANDLE VIA BYEMAN 

CONTROL SYSTEM ONLY 

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