Space Agency Announces Next Undersea Exploration Mission Dates
And Crew
NASA will send two astronauts, a veteran undersea engineer and
an experienced scientist into the ocean depths off Florida's east
coast this month to test exploration concepts and learn more about
working in an unforgiving, treacherous environment. The 14th
expedition of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or
NEEMO, begins May 10.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut and veteran spacewalker Chris
Hadfield will lead the NASA team on a 14-day undersea mission
aboard the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory near Key Largo. Aquarius
is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) and operated by the University of North Carolina at
Wilmington. Joining Hadfield will be NASA astronaut and flight
surgeon Thomas Marshburn, Lunar Electric Rover Deputy Project
Manager Andrew Abercromby and Steve Chappell, a research scientist.
Abercromby and Chappell work for Wyle Integrated Science and
Engineering of Houston.
During NEEMO 14, the ocean floor will simulate aspects of
another planet's surface and a low-gravity environment. In October
2009, a team of aquanauts set the stage for NEEMO 14 by placing
mockups near Aquarius of a lander, rover and small crane that
simulates a robotic arm. The difference being that in space, algae,
barnacles, and coral are unlikely to grow on the equipment ... so
far as we know now, anyway.
Photo Courtesy NASA
The NEEMO 14 crew will live aboard the underwater laboratory,
venture out on simulated spacewalks, operate the crane and maneuver
the vehicles much like explorers would in setting up a habitat on
another planet. As the aquanauts interact with these developing
technologies, they will provide information and feedback to NASA
engineers. The crew will simulate removing a mockup of the Lunar
Electric Rover from the lander, retrieve small payloads from the
lander and the ocean floor, and simulate the transfer of an
incapacitated astronaut from the ocean floor to the deck of the
craft.
The rover and lander mockups are similar in size to vehicles
NASA is considering for future planetary exploration. The lander
mockup is wider than a school bus is long and almost three times as
high. It measures 45 feet wide and 28 feet high, including a
10-foot-high crane. The rover mockup is slightly larger than a
full-size SUV, standing eight feet tall and 14 feet long.
Photo Courtesy NASA
While inside Aquarius, the crew will perform life science
experiments focused on human behavior, performance and physiology.
The mission also includes a study of autonomous crew work. There
will be periods when there is limited communication between the
crew and the mission control center, much like what could happen
during missions to the moon or Mars.
The six-member crew of NEEMO 14 brings a wide range of
experience to the mission. Hadfield conducted two spacewalks and
operated the International Space Station's robotic arm, known as
Canadarm2, during the space shuttle's STS-100 mission in April
2001. He also worked extensively with the shuttle's robotic
Canadarm on STS-74 in 1995. Marshburn, a flight surgeon, conducted
three spacewalks on STS-127 in 2009.
Photo Courtesy NASA
Abercromby adds his extensive experience in planning and
executing field test operations, or analogs, that simulate space
environments, such as NEEMO and NASA's Haughton Mars Project,
Desert Research and Technology Studies and the Pavilion Lake
Research Project. Chappell is an active member of Rocky Mountain
Rescue based in Boulder, Colo., and earned a doctorate degree with
a focus on human performance in reduced gravity.
James Talacek and Nate Bender of the University of North
Carolina at Wilmington are habitat technicians and will provide
engineering support.