“The Deep Frontier” is an episode in the CBS News series 21st Century from 1968, that surveys exploration of the ocean floor. It utilizes U.S. Navy footage throughout. The film opens with divers in the deep sea, before cutting to an interview with oceanographer Harris Stewart (01:51). The film discusses the technological advances in ocean exploration, enabling potential study of deep trenches and the bottom of the continental slope (03:39). Oceanographers use FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform) to explore the ocean (04:05): FLIP drops 300 feet below the surface, giving scientists an underwater laboratory. However, to truly explore the depths, man must use specialized submarines. The Aluminaut is 3-man sub that drives over the sea floor (05:35), giving scientists unique views and allowing the crew to drill into the sea floor to take samples. A robot submarine (06:38) named CURV (Cable-controlled Underwater Recovery Vehicle) provides video of the ocean bottom in addition to retrieving sunken items, such as an H-bomb that is recovered off the coast of Spain or a torpedo (07:02). M. Scott Carpenter, the only U.S. astronaut/aquanaut (07:29), goes to Sea Lab 2 off of the California coast to test how long man can live and work in the sea. Sea Lab 2 is an underwater steel shell. Saturation living allows Carpenter and other crewmembers to live at the bottom of the sea and conduct tests under great pressure. Aquanauts use technology for their work, but not exclusively—porpoises (09:30) assist the men in their underwater experiments. Aquanauts relax and entertain themselves in the cramped quarters of Sea Lab 2 (10:06) before surfacing and going through decompression to account for the 30 days spent under extreme pressure. Then episode then moves to an interview with Captain George Bond of the U.S. Navy (12:00) and Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau (12:07), who discuss the problems of speech that occur from breathing helium. M. Scott Carpenter (14:09) discusses the comparisons of space and ocean exploration and laments the lack of support for sea exploration. Deep Diver (16:00) is vessel that helps improve the operations of moving divers from the bottom of the ocean to the surface. French Aquanaut Robert Stenuit and Marine Biologist John Lindbergh (son of Charles Lindbergh) (16:28) are two of the first men to dive out of Deep Diver. The two men discuss their time living in SPID (Submersible Portable Inflatable Dwelling). Deep Diver pilot Mike Adams takes Cronkite on a trip (19:00) to the sea bottom off the coast of Grand Bahama Island, which is 100 feet down. Cronkite sits in observer seat and takes in the views as divers go out and explore the site area and approach and enter SPID (23:45), capping off the episode of 21st Century.
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