1969 a detachment of 50 men from Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 plus 17 Seabee divers began installation of the Tektite habitat in Great Lameshur Bay at Lameshur, U.S. Virgin Islands. The Tektite program was funded by NASA and was the first scientists-in-the-sea program sponsored by the US government. The Tektite project was a product of the Cold War. It caused the US Navy to realize the need for a permanent Underwater Construction capability that led to the formation the Seabee Underwater Construction Teams. SEALAB was led by Captain George F. Bond with divers from the fleet. SEALAB I, II, and III were experimental underwater habitats developed by the United States Navy in the 1960s to prove the viability of saturation diving and humans living in isolation for extended periods of time. The knowledge gained from the SEALAB expeditions helped advance the science of deep sea diving and rescue, and contributed to the understanding of the psychological and physiological strains humans can endure. USN Aquanauts of note include Robert Sheats, Robin Cook, Alan Shepard, Scott Carpenter and Robert Barth. In 1966 a B-52 crashed off Palomares, Spain with four hydrogen bombs. , and brought 150 divers who searched down to without locating the weapons. DSV Alvin located them at a depth of . Still in service, USS Chanticleer was involved with RVN diving operations at Nha Trang during the Vietnam war. Her divers were tasked with a number of salvage assignments. At Chu Lai Combat Base in 1967 Mobile Construction Battalion 71 had an Underwater Construction Team search the Tra Bong River for a missing Squad of Marines that the Marines wanted back no matter what. Their efforts made the Stars and Stripes Pacific edition. In the 1970s Navy divers took part in Operation Ivy Bells. It was a joint Navy CIA operation. Since the divers did not have the security clearances needed they were given a story for the mission. In 1975 the first female hard hat diver to be qualified was Donna Tobias. Ten years later Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper became a salvage officer and would become another USN astronaut/diver. Also that year, Seabee diver Robert Dean Stethem was killed by hijackers on TWA Flight 847 at Beirut. The Navy named DDG-63 in his honor. In the 1980s Mobile Diving Salvage Unit 1 and 2 were created. MDSU 2 has been involved in the salvage of , , TWA Flight 800,