While it may sound unusual to have space men training underwater, NASA’s 16-day mission is supposed to mimic conditions similar to those on planet Mars.
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The team of astronauts will receive some deep sea training as a space mission simulation where the bottom of this massive ocean is apparently similar to the dry, Red Planet as they are both extreme environments. “NEEMO crew members, known as aquanauts, experience some of the same challenges there that they would on a distant asteroid, planet or moon”.
Astronauts on Mars can face a communication break and NEEMO will prepare them for such situations under extreme environments.
The 16-day training exercise, named NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, will give crewmembers a taste of what it’s like to live and work in the isolation of deep space.
They will leave the base to conduct simulated spacewalks underwater, pilot vehicles, gather samples for marine biology and geology studies, build a coral nursery, and take part in coral restoration. Communication delays will be tested in one of the underwater missions, in preparation for potential issues on future space missions. He further explained that the other tasks just go and planned and all cases are equally beneficial.
He believes that it is how astronauts learn so that they are prepared for the unexpected as they traverse the Martian surface someday. At the halfway mark, Wiseman and O’Griofa will be replaced by Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Research Scientist Dawn Kernagis and Naval Postgraduate School Researcher Noel Du Toit, at which time NASA’s McArthur will assume command of the vessel. Aquanauts will perform simulated spacewalks underwater while evaluating mission tools and techniques.
Based on the results of this year’s mission, a second flight version is expected to fly to the Space Station in 2017. Before joining the space agency, McArthur worked on her doctorate in oceanography at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
According to astronaut Reid Wiseman, who shared a picture of the DNA sequencer in action, the team are carrying out tests for the International Space Station (ISS) as well as future Mars operations. The mission also praised Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, TeloRegen, Vega Telehealth, and Johns Hopkins, NASA’s official website informs.
Six astronauts have dived into Aquarius Reef Base, which is located 19 meters below sea level.
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It’s the 21st mission of its kind since NEEMO began in 2001. It is supported by the Human Health and Performance Directorate at the U.S. Space agency’s Johnson Center. Many of these operations systems have been developed and honed by the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP), and will now be applied, refined and evolved during NEEMO 15.
