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Good Dive!

Patrick Neumann, an able-bodied seaman on the research vessel Atlantis, grasps one of the manipulator hands of the submersible Alvin following a successful test dive in the Pacific Ocean. Alvin recently underwent a complete rebuild and a series of tests prior to returning to service next month. Swimmers meet the sub after every dive, to inspect it for problems and prepare it for recovery onto the ship. Neumann is holding onto the mechanical hand so it does not hit him as Alvin moves in the ocean swells—or perhaps to offer congratulations on a dive well done.(Photo by Rod Catanach, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)