Conchshell 3

--> (Sources 9 and 6)

Actually it's called Conshelf III, for Continental Shelf Station 3. It was an undersea exploration mission by Jacques Cousteau and his team that took place in 1965.  

In it, 6 men were sent down to the sea floor at a record depth of 328 feet/100 meters in a submarine, a round "underwater habitat" to live there for 3 weeks for the first time ever (Source 1).  They took samples and explored the surrounding area, and were studied to see how the effects of pressure and the mix of helium and oxygen they breathed would effect them.

The interior of the Conshelf II, the mission before Conshelf III (Source 7).

The helium-oxygen mix was used so that the oceanauts could still absorb oxygen in the extreme pressure.  In addition, it is better than a nitrogen-oxygen mix because nitrogen can have a narcotic effect when diving (Source 11).  


It made the men's voices high and chipmunky, and "it took several days for them to understand each other's squeaky falsetto." This is because sound travels faster in a helium-oxygen blend, a.k.a. heliox, than in normal air (Source 10).  The helium also had the effect of decreased appetite, and water wouldn't boil for coffee, and cigarettes wouldn't stay lit because helium diffuses heat (Source 1).

View of the Conshelf III from the outside (Source 8).

I love the idea of 6 men stuck together for 3 weeks, way down on the bottom of the oceean, trying to communicate in high squeaky French, complaining that their cigarettes wouldn't stay lit.

Family portrait of Jacques Cousteau, son Philippe, and son Jean-Michel, left to right (Source 4).

Another family portrait, this time of Jean-Michel Cousteau and son Fabien, and daughter Celine (Source 5).

Oceanaut Philip Cousteau's impression of the dark ocean deep, written in his diary:

"As soon as I have cleared the sphere, I am struck by the absence of the surface.  A total absence - felt like a chill.  Darkness covers us like a shroud, my searchlight beam disappears in all directions, except on the flat and gray bottom.  I must find ways to fight the cold, and forget my fright." (Source 1)

     Image of Jacques Cousteau (Source 3).

Cousteau Society's description of Conshelf III:

"In 1962, Conshelf I was set up off Marseilles at ten meters depth. [...] In 1965, near Nice, France, the ultimate stage, Conshelf III, was born. One hundred meters below the surface, a building housed six oceanauts who would live together for three weeks. They would go out each day to work on a mockup oil well, an exercise to evaluate human capabilities.

"Conshelf proved that human beings can live under the sea for long periods of time but that, even though they have the physical and psychological capabilities, humans are not made to exist in a world without sun. Nevertheless, these experiments gave rise to the training astronauts undergo today before leaving for a world of billions of suns: Space. Here, too, Cousteau was a precursor." (Source 2)

"Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles music video HD (Source 12).

Bibliography
1. "30 Years of National Geographic Specials" DVD, "The World of Jacques-Yves Cousteau: 1966" scene.  NGT, Inc., 2003.  ISBN: 0-7922-9994-9.


2.  "Conshelf I, II & III" webpage.  Cousteau Society, 2012.  WWW: http://www.cousteau.org/technology/conshelf.


3. "Jacques Cousteau" image by rook.  Yay Images, 2012.  WWW: http://yaymicro.com/stock-image/jacques-cousteau/2511821.


4. "Jacques Cousteau and Sons" image from blog post "Jacques-Yves Cousteau the Greatest Explorer [Part 4 or 4], posted by blog author Jake@RolexMagazine.com, 1998.  Blogger, 2012.  WWW: http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/jacques-yves-cousteau-greatest-explorer.html.


5. "Jean-Michel Cousteau" image from blog post "Jacques-Yves Cousteau the Greatest Explorer [Part 4 or 4], posted by blog author Jake@RolexMagazine.com, 1998.  Blogger, 2012.  WWW: http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/jacques-yves-cousteau-greatest-explorer.html.


6.  "Living and Working in the Sea" image of hardcover book published 1995, from Amazon listing.  WWW: http://www.amazon.com/Living-Working-Sea-James-Miller/dp/1886699011.


7. "Conshelf II Chess" image from blog post "Jacques-Yves Cousteau the Greatest Explorer [Part 4 or 4], posted by blog author Jake@RolexMagazine.com, 1998.  Blogger, 2012.  WWW: http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/jacques-yves-cousteau-greatest-explorer.html.


8. "Conshelf III' image from blog post "Jacques-Yves Cousteau the Greatest Explorer [Part 4 or 4], posted by blog author Jake@RolexMagazine.com, 1998.  Blogger, 2012.  WWW: http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/jacques-yves-cousteau-greatest-explorer.html.


9. "Albert Falco Silent World" image from blog post "Jacques-Yves Cousteau the Greatest Explorer [Part 4 or 4], posted by blog author Jake@RolexMagazine.com, 1998.  Blogger, 2012.  WWW: http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/jacques-yves-cousteau-greatest-explorer.html.


10. "Heliox" Wikipedia article, 2012.  WWW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliox.


11. "Scuba Diving Safety: Know Your Breathing Gasses" webpage by World Diving Review, 2012. WWW: http://www.worlddivingreview.com/scuba-diving-safety-know-your-breathing-gases.


12.  "The Beatles - Yellow Submarine [HD]" YouTube video posted by HDBeatles, 2010.  WWW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrs5DjHNUOE.