Space Station Astronaut Leads Crew of 4 NASA Aquanauts
on a NOAA Aquarius Mission
NOAA's Undersea Research Program - NURP
This story entered on 9th Jun, 2003 08:24:02 AM PST
Key Largo, FL -- The June mission of NOAA's Aquarius
Undersea Laboratory will include NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who
lived and conducted research aboard the International Space Station
for 190 days in 2002. Joining Whitson on the crew of this year's
first NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations program, designated
NEEMO 5, from June 16-29, will be fellow astronauts Clayton Anderson
and Garrett Reisman, and space station support scientist Emma Hwang.
Training for the mission begins today and includes an intensive
week-long dive schedule, safety and operations briefings, and emergency
drills.
The NEEMO missions are a cooperative project of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, and
the National Undersea Research Center (NURC) at the University of
North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW). Two UNCW staff will lead operational
support inside Aquarius, Ryan Snow and James Talacek, both of whom
are experienced aquanauts with eight previous missions completed
between them. Aquarius is owned by NOAA and managed by UNCW. The
14-meter-long (45 feet) by 3-meter-diameter (9 feet) underwater
laboratory operates 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) off Tavernier, Florida,
adjacent to deep coral reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary.
The crew will use the undersea habitat as practice for
long-duration space habitation, living in a volume similar to the
living module of the International Space Station, conducting scientific
research on the human body and coral reefs, and building undersea
structures to simulate space station assembly spacewalk activities.
Dr. Steven Miller, NURC/UNCW Director, said, "The vast majority
of Aquarius missions focus on pressing environmental science questions,
but it's also exciting to see the underwater laboratory used to
support objectives of national interest, such as the current NASA
mission."
"NEEMO 5, our next-generation mission, goes beyond
the bounds of a space analog experience and will attempt to answer
several significant scientific questions about long duration isolation
in extreme environments," said Bill Todd, NEEMO project manager
at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). "We have ratcheted up the
isolation factor, complexity and science objectives to a level that
closely parallels a space mission experience. And the science we
are performing may very well help answer several critical path questions
on our road map for journeying to Mars and beyond."
Similar in size to the International Space Station's
Zvezda Service Module, Aquarius provides life support systems that
allow scientists to live and work in reasonably comfortable quarters.
A 10-meter life support buoy is located on the surface above Aquarius
that provides power, life support, and communication equipment to
support the underwater laboratory. A shore-based mission control
facility supports all Aquarius missions with 24-hour monitoring
by NURC/UNCW staff. This mission also includes support by JSC's
Exploration Planning and Operations Center (ExPOC) control room,
simulating the interactions between astronauts and control rooms
on space flights.
The unique design of Aquarius allows aquanauts to live
and work on the seafloor for extended periods using a special technique
called saturation diving. This dramatically increases the time divers
can spend working in the ocean depths and provides more convenient,
on-site access to science equipment, and computers - Aquarius even
has Internet. The system has also proven to be extremely safe. In
15 years of operation no serious injuries have occurred. "This
is mission number 72 for Aquarius, with nearly 400 aquanauts safely
completing their projects," said Miller. Aquarius is typically
used by marine scientists to study coral reefs and the coastal ocean.
Project summaries of previous missions are available that include
aquanaut biographies, expedition journals posted during the project,
and pictures.
Check out the Aquarius
website hosted by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington
often for updates and to view the live web cameras.
Contact information:
Name: Steven Miller
Tel: (305) 451-233
Email: smiller@gate.net
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