Astronaut Scott Carpenter survived orbiting the earth but was almost done in by Bermuda’s roads.

He was visiting Bermuda in 1964 as part of a revolutionary ocean experiment by the US Navy. Unfortunately for him, he wiped out on his moped and the injuries prevented him from taking part.

The accident brought worldwide attention to Sealab 1. Captain George Bond’s project put a Navy crew inside a large metal cylinder and then sank it deep in the oceans off Bermuda.

The plan was to have the crew stay there for three weeks but they were pulled out halfway through because of an oncoming storm.

Tales of the project and its quirky characters will be recounted at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute tonight by Ben Hellwarth. The California resident’s talk will be based on his book, Sealab.

“They brought their prototype sea base from Florida and then took it out about 25 miles to the southwest of Bermuda, where they had found a site that would be beautiful for a first trial run,” he said.

“There was a lot of concern about safety. Captain Bond was a charismatic, out-of-the-box thinker. When the navy was sceptical about these ideas about living in the sea he pushed ahead and saw the experiment through.”

Divers hadn’t stayed in the deep ocean for more than an hour or two because of the ocean pressure prior to Sealab 1. However, as the pressure inside Captain Bond’s cylinder was the same as outside the ocean, it allowed people to survive indefinitely and to enter and leave the ocean at will. It was decided Bermuda was a perfect location because of its relatively calm seas, flat sandy bottom and naval base.

Although the experiment didn’t run its full course, the week-and-a-half stay proved “that it was possible”, Mr Hellwarth said. Sealab 1 gave rise to several similar projects and paved the way for deeper knowledge of the ocean.

Mr Hellwarth’s talk begins at 7.30pm. Tickets, $20 for members and $25 for non-members, are available by calling 294-0204 or at the BUEI gift shop.