Manned Undersea Science and Technology Needs Focus and Direction

Gao ID: PSAD-77-130 July 14, 1977

National goals and objectives for U.S. manned undersea research have not been clearly defined. Until this is done, it would be difficult to establish a level of funding of new facilities needed to support an expanded federal manned undersea research program.

Undersea research has suffered from the lack of overall ocean research goals and objectives, a national focus, and sporadic funding. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tried to provide a national focus for manned undersea research when it established the Manned Undersea Science and Technology Office in 1971. However, its budget was restricted to level funding of about $1 million a year, and its objectives were narrowed to support only in-house investigations. Congress appropriated $1.5 million in fiscal year 1977 for NOAA to support surveys, mission analyses, cost analyses, and design and engineering studies for an underwater ocean laboratory.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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