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History-Making Oceanographer and Ret. Navy Captain Dies at 92

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.

November 16, 2023

Propulsor Hydrodynamics, Hydroacoustics and Structural Dynamics

The Office of Naval Research's Propulsor Hydrodynamics and Hydroacoustics program explores science and technology related to the physics of fluid flow around propulsors to improve the Navy’s propulsor design capability for improved stealth, efficiency and mobility.

March 18, 2022

High Energy Lasers

The High Energy Lasers Program is part of the Office of Naval Research's Naval Air Warfare and Weapons Department.

March 18, 2022

Laser Weapons and Combat System Integration

The Laser Weapons and Combat System Integration Program is part of the Office of Naval Research's Naval Air Warcraft and Weapons Department.

March 18, 2022

Code 35 Expeditionary Warfare

Code 35 Expeditionary Warfare is part of the Office of Naval Research's Naval Air Warfare and Weapons Department.

March 18, 2022

Resilient Structures

The Office of Naval Research's resilient structures research area endeavors to develop structural configurations, materials and technologies to enable self-sustainable, self-repairable and highly damage resistant structures.

March 18, 2022

Electric Boat Competition Sparks Interest in Naval Science Careers

Student engineering teams from Princeton, Washington College and the University of Alabama have won first place in their respective events at the “Promoting Electric Propulsion” (PEP) boat races, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE). In just six years, this electric boat-building competition has grown from a single university to 34, with more than 200 students who took part in the five-mile races on Broad Bay in Virginia Beach. Dr. Steve Russell, program officer, Sea Warfare and Weapons department, said he launched the PEP competition with a colleague from ASNE, Dr. Leigh McCue, and Tim Cullis, Naval Sea Warfare Center Carderock, after seeing a public race by local hobbyists in the Chesapeake Bay.

April 22, 2024

Multi-scale Mechanics

The Office of Naval Research's multi-scale mechanics research area endeavors to develop multiscale and multiphysics mechanics theories that bridge the nano scale to the continuum scale to predict material and structural strength.

March 18, 2022

Cooperative Autonomous Swarm Technology (CAST)

The Office of Naval Research's CAST program seeks to develop technologies to enable cooperative operations of unmanned maritime systems including unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and weapons in a wide range of mission areas.

March 18, 2022

Ship Signatures (Radar, Infrared, Acoustic)

The Office of Naval Research's Ship Signatures program supports the Navy’s interest in advanced sea platform survivability science and technology, and submarine science and technology.

March 18, 2022