Named as the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 21 expedition will begin on 21 July. The six “aquanauts” will spend 16 days 20 m underwater in their habitat and perform “waterwalks” – by adjusting their buoyancy, the aquanauts can simulate Mars gravity. “What we learn here is also fully applicable to a manned moon mission”, said crew member Hervé Stevenin of the European Space Agency in a press release.
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NASA astronauts venture to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to prepare for Mars missions.
21 expedition beginning July 21, an worldwide crew will explore tools and techniques being tested for future space exploration by living in simulated spacecraft conditions and conducting simulated spacewalks outside of their undersea habitat, Aquarius, the U.S. space agency said. And the Atlantic Ocean mimics the extreme environment of the Red Planet.
McArthur profile includes a flight on the STS-125 shuttle mission in 2009 and her service as Mission Control spacecraft communicator for the space shuttle and space station missions.
Astronaut Daniel T. Barry, Mission Specialist, Wears A Training Version Of The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (Emu) Space Suit During An Underwater Simulation Of A Space Walk Scheduled For The Sts-96 Mission January 15, 1999 At The Johnson Space Center In Houston.
NASA’s NEEMO 21 expedition has sent astronauts undersea to subject them to types of extreme environments they could endure on a long space mission.
Inside Aquarius, the worldwide crew will conduct a variety of research and operations studies, such as testing a mini DNA sequencer that NASA astronaut Kate Rubins also will be testing aboard the global Space Station, and a telemedicine device that will be used for future space applications. Other medical experiments involve technology that could regenerate chromosome telomeres – a symptom of aging – and telemedicine for astronauts far from home. At 16 days, it’s the longest one for the project yet. Just like in a real spacewalk, the aquanauts are given outside missions to accomplish, which they use to test performance of both procedures and even equipment that could be someday be used in similar situations in space. The headset is called the mobiPV and allows astronauts to streams video with audio back to base hands-free.
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The US space agency said, “Much like space, the undersea world is a hostile, alien place for humans to live”.
