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Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Don Walsh, best known for his daring dive to the deepest spot on Earth, nearly 36,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, has died at age 92. Walsh was a co-pilot of the Trieste bathyscaphe, a deep submergence vehicle acquired by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in 1958. Two years later, on January 23, 1960, Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard, son of the inventor of the bathyscaphe, became the first humans to descend into the Challenger Deep, located in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench. “ONR sponsored the Trieste, but it was then-Lt. Don Walsh who made the very daring decision to make the first descent into the deepest spot of the earth’s ocean. Walsh was a Navy officer, a submariner, an adventurer, and an oceanographer. To his family, we extend our deepest condolences and gratitude for allowing him to explore, and share his extraordinary experiences and knowledge with us,” said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus.

A dynamic era in naval oceanography recently ended as the iconic Floating Instrument Platform — popularly known as FLIP — was officially retired from service. Built in 1962 with funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), FLIP helped generations of scientists and oceanographers better understand the mysteries of the sea, including internal waves, air-sea interaction and long-range sound propagation. Sadly, age and exorbitant life-extension costs resulted in the platform being disestablished. On Aug. 3, a solemn gathering of well-wishers watched as FLIP was towed, at sunset, to a dismantling and recycling facility. Last month, a formal good-bye ceremony was hosted by the Marine Physical Laboratory at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Though retired, FLIP will live on at Scripps. One of its booms (crane-like arms for suspending instruments) will be installed on the Scripps research pier in La Jolla and used to deploy instruments. Also, artifacts from the platform will be displayed in a permanent exhibit at Scripps’ Birch Aquarium.

During a visit to San Diego for the U.S. Pacific Fleet-led Unmanned Integrated Battle Problem 21, Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Lorin Selby said America’s growing focus on autonomous capabilities is showing impressive results.

The Office of Naval Research's Metamaterials program supports basic research on optical and acoustic metamaterials to control light and sound propagation over a large frequency range.

The Office of Naval Research's Computer-Aided Materials Design (CAMD) program funds research projects in materials design.

The Office of Naval Research's Extraordinary Materials for Extreme Conditions program aims to support basic and applied research efforts to design, discover and develop novel materials/structures with unique properties (Physical, Mechanical and Chemical etc.) for extreme operating conditions through employing traditional as well as novel - synthesis routes, processing, characterization techniques and modeling/simulation tools.

The Organic Photovoltaics program is part of the Office of Naval Research's Sea Warfare and Weapons Department.

Naval assets, large and small, spend months to years at sea exposed to considerable biofouling pressures. The Office of Naval Research's Biofouling Control and Coatings Program sponsors research to develop antifouling/fouling release coatings and the mechanics underlying such materials.

The Office of Naval Research's Acoustic Transduction Materials and Devices program supports basic and applied research on materials and device technologies for Navy applications that generate, detect and suppress undersea signal for navigation, threat detection, weapons guidance, communication and the like.

Dielectric Films for Capacitors is an Office of Naval Research program.