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OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY DIVISION 

OPTO-MECHANICAL DESIGN ENGINEERING 

Memorandum ME 61 

TO: 

FROM: 

Distribu tion 

L.B. MolaSkey/ 

DATE: September ~9, 1971 

SUBJECT: 

" 1 

Trip Report - Recovery of #3 - San Diego, California - 23 and 24 

September 

Activities of 9-23 

The hook was rerigged from the bow hoist to a pulley system off 

center and closer to the capsule and mechanical manipulator. The new position 

allows the manipulator to reach the latch and cocking lever of the hook when 

the payload is suspended on the cable. This new position was photographed, 

as were the details of all the modifications made for the project. They will' 

be available on my return. 

I sketched up a light cover of black nylon cloth to be used for 

covering the payload as it is brought to the surface. The Navy purchased the 

material in Los Angeles and is having it sent to their upholstery shop on the 

base to be fabricated. I visited that facility and reviewed the sketches with 

the man responsible for making the thing. There are no problems except for the 

delivery of the material which, at this writing, has not yet arrived. The de- ' 

vice will tie onto the hook and completely surround the hook, payload and all. 

It has "draw strings" that when pulled by the divers will cinch off the top 

and bottom and completely cover the unit. Fabrication of the cover is scheduled 

for completion by Monday. 

The coOling problem with the payload after recovery has been solved 

by building a refrigerator. The Navy purchased a refrigerator unit and plans 

to'build a box to enclose the entire shipping container. Lumber, insulation 

and sealing materials have been loaded aboard the White Sands and the plan is 

to fabricate the box while in transit to the :,site. 

Activities of 9-24 

Departure of the Trieste for the test site was delayed from this 

morning until Monday the 27th due to ship equipment problems. Because of 

this 1 will be joining the ship on Monday morning at the dock and will sail 

out to the test site aboard the White Sands. Because of the delay only one 

dive is planned. 

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Memorandum ME 61 (Continued) -2- September 29, 1971 

A meeting was held, aboard the White Sands, to discuss the techniques to be 

used to direct the Trieste to the target on the bottom. Attendees were as 

follows: 

Lt. Cdr. P.C. Stryker 

Lt. A. Amaro 

Lt. R. Taylor 

Lt. Cdr. M.G. Bartels 

L. Molaskey 

M.R. Boegemann 

R. Lockwood 

- Westinghouse Tech. 

Sperry tech. Rep. 

Sperry Tech. Rep. 

Trieste II AOINC 

Trieste II Elec/Elex·Officer 

Trieste II Engineer 

Trieste II~ite Sands OINe 

Civilian - USN 

MPL (Scripps) 

- MPL (Scripps) 

Of primary concern was the interface between the Trieste, the White 

Sands .and the DeSteiguer equipment to locate the ships on the surface and 

direct the Trieste on the bottom. 

Apparently their navigation systems are not completely compatible, 

nor are the transponders, lliarkers ,hydrophones ~ etc. The interface was worked 

out, however, by supplementing the Trieste's capability with equipment from the 

DeSteiguer. Two schemes. will be available for use at the site. MY next report 

will provide the" details. 

The plan is now to put to sea on Monday to a test range west of San 

Diego, that is instrumented in a manner similar to the network that will "be 

laid out at the target site. The dllDUl}' paylOad will be instrumented with a 

pinger and droped over the side. The Trieste will make one dive about 5,000 

feet, retrieve the payload, make the transfer to the White Sands, loa~ the 

Tri~ste aboard the White Sands and head for the target site. I will return by 

small boat to the base along with some of the Navy personnel who will be tbere 

to witness the test. 

LBM/cj 

cc: H.F. Ma8ui~e 

H.W. Robertson 

R.W. Jones 

C. ICaratzas 

P. Petty 

R. Roylance 

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