Feature
Text Size
A NEEMO 14 aquanaut practices shoveling underwater, just as an astronaut would shovel to collect soil samples on another planet. Credit: NASA
+ View lo-res image
+ View hi-res image
NEEMO -- the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations project -- sends groups of NASA employees and contractors to live in Aquarius for up to three weeks at a time. For NASA, 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.
Far beneath the waves of the Florida keys, an underwater laboratory called Aquarius provides a safe harbor for scientists to live and work for weeks at a time. Owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and managed by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Aquarius operates 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles) off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It is deployed next to deep coral reefs 62 feet (19 meters) below the surface.
The laboratory is most often used by marine biologists, for whom Aquarius acts as home base as they study the coral reef, the fish and aquatic plants that live nearby and composition of the surrounding seawater. Aquarius houses sophisticated lab equipment and computers, enabling scientists to perform research and process samples without leaving their underwater facilities.
Since 2001, NEEMO has completed 14 missons, with 1 thru 13 primarily for astronaut training. NEEMO 14 tested equipment and operational concepts for space exploration. NEEMO 15, from Oct 17-29, 2011, continues this trend by testing equipment and operations required for exploration of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). Engineering tests for NEEMO 15 were conducted at Aquarius during May 2011.
+ Back to main NEEMO page