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| | NASA Completes Undersea Mission
Image above: NEEMO 11 crew member works near the undersea habitat "Aquarius" during a session of extravehicular activity for the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) project. Image credit: NASA
Three astronauts and a Constellation Program aerospace engineer began a 10-day NASA mission in the ocean depths off the Florida coast Aug. 6. They tested lunar exploration concepts and a suite of long-duration spaceflight medical objectives.
Veteran space flyer and aquanaut Nicholas Patrick lead the undersea mission aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aquarius Underwater Laboratory. NASA Astronaut Richard Arnold, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and systems integration engineer Christopher Gerty completed the crew.
During the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations 13 (NEEMO 13), the crew conducted a variety of undersea "moon walks" to test concepts for future lunar exploration using advanced navigation and communication equipment.
“This crew will work much more independently from the mission control team than on previous missions,” said NEEMO Project Manager Bill Todd of the United Space Alliance at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “This autonomous mode of operation will encourage the crew to make real-time decisions about daily operations similar to what we think will be necessary for lunar and Mars missions. The idea is to show how procedures and training for future missions can be adapted, considering the reduced direct communication with Mission Control those crews will encounter.”
Visit the NOAA Web site for more on Aquarius, including a virtual dive to the underwater habitat.
+ NEEMO Webcams
+ NEEMO 13 Journals
+ Read the July 24 press release
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| Nicholas Patrick
Astronaut Nicholas Patrick, who flew on STS-116 in Dec. 2006, lead the NEEMO 13 crew.
+ View biography
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| Richard Arnold
Selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2004, Richard Arnold joined the NEEMO 13 crew on its 10-day undersea mission.
+ View biography
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| Satoshi Furukawa
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa completed NASA astronaut candidate training in Feb. 2006.
+ View biography
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| Christopher Gerty
Engineer Christopher Gerty joined the NEEMO 13 crew as a liaison for the Constellation Program.
+ View biography
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| Jim Buckley and Larry Ward
Engineering support for the mission was provided by Jim Buckley and Larry Ward of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
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| Introduction to NEEMO
Aquarius provides a convincing analog to space exploration, and NEEMO crewmembers experience some of the same tasks and challenges underwater as they would in space.
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| About Aquarius
The Aquarius habitat has about 400 square feet of living and laboratory space.
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| NEEMO Teams and Key Personnel
In addition to the participants in NEEMO saturation dives, teams of technicians and scientists work above the surface.
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| NEEMO History
Several NEEMO teams have taken the plunge.
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| Underwater "Spacewalking"
Most underwater afficionados refer to them as "dives," but NASA regards the trips outside of Aquarius as analogs to space walks, or EVAs.
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