an apparatus and method are provided for deploying a data sensing apparatus into a subsurface geologic formation for intermittent or continuously gathering data from the subsurface formation and transmitting the data to a remote data receiver . in a preferred embodiment , a non - linear arrangement of a barrel and a burn chamber is used to provide a gun - like device for firing a bullet - shaped data sensing apparatus into a formation of interest . the data sensing apparatus , once disposed within the matrix of the formation of interest , monitors formation conditions and transmits the data for use in optimizing drilling and production activities .