Some of these buoys will support and monitor up to 100 sensors each. These devices record a variety of physical, chemical, and radiological phenomena above, at, or below the surface. Periodically the sensor data will be converted to digital form and stored on magnetic tape for later retrieval by distant shore-based or shipboard radio command, by satellite command (for retransmittal to ground stations), or by physical recovery of the tapes. Individually, each buoy will not require a great deal of energy to operate, but will have to operate reliably over long periods of time. Conventional power sources are being used for the prototype buoys now under development and testing, but these robot ocean platforms in the future will make excellent use of nuclear energy supplied by isotopic power sources. [Illustration: _The world’s first nuclear-powered weather buoy located in the center of the Gulf of Mexico. This weather station, part of the U. S. Navy’s NOMAD system, is on a barge 10 feet × 20 feet, and is anchored in 12,000 feet of water._] [Illustration: diagram] RADIO ANTENNA WEATHER SENSORS WARNING BEACON NUCLEAR GENERATOR The SNAP-7D isotope power generator has been operating unattended since January 1964 on a deep-ocean moored buoy in the Gulf of Mexico. This U. S. Navy NOMAD (Navy Oceanographic and Meteorological Automatic Device) buoy is powered by a 60-watt, strontium-90 radioisotope source, which was developed by the AEC Division of Reactor Development and Technology. This weather station transmits data for 2 minutes and 20 seconds every 3 hours. This data includes air temperature, barometric pressure, and wind velocity and direction. Storm detectors trigger special hourly transmissions during severe weather conditions. The generator operates continuously and charges storage batteries between transmissions. Some power is used to light a navigation beacon to alert passing ships. Energy from the heat of radioisotope decay has been used on a “proof-of-principle” basis in several other instances involving ocean or marine technology. An experimental ⁹⁰Sr isotope-powered acoustic navigation beacon (SNAP-7E) now rests on the sea floor in 15,000 feet of water near Bermuda. Devices such as these not only will enable nearby surface research or salvage vessels to locate their positions precisely (something very difficult to do at sea) and to return to the same spot, but the beacons also will aid submarine navigation (see page 48). A U. S. Coast Guard lighthouse located in Chesapeake Bay has been powered by a 60-watt, ⁹⁰Sr power source, SNAP-7B, for 2 years without maintenance or service. This unit was subsequently relocated for use in another application (described below). [Illustration: _Engineers prepare to install the SNAP-7D generator._]