/sci/ - Science & Math

Here's the report I wrote for the Mars Society during my MDRS participation. I thought /sci/ might enjoy it.

http://pastebin.com/24mCgewp

Jacques Piccard, one of the two men who first visited the Challenger Deep, also famously collaborated on the design of the PX-15 "Ben Franklin". It was intended to be an analog space station; someplace to study how a single-launch manned space lab like Skylab would operate, in a similar environment. It drifted 1,400+ miles along the gulf stream to simulate orbit, using thrusters only for attitude correction while men onboard lived, worked, slept and carried out various experiments.

With modern materials, batteries and life support technology a sub like this could go much deeper, stay longer and support a larger crew. Imagine for a moment that such a "Sea Shuttle" has been constructed. You are a scientist who wants to serve aboard it. What is your experiment proposal? Where do you want the sea shuttle to set down, for how long, and what will you be studying? Assume a 4 and a half mile operational depth and a compact nuclear reactor which provides functionally unlimited oxygen and fresh drinking water.