NASA Announces Next Undersea Exploration Mission Dates And Crew
WASHINGTON -- 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.
To request interviews with the NEEMO 14 crew during the mission,
contact NASA's Johnson Space Center newsroom at 281-483-5111, or
Carole Duval of the Canadian Space Agency at 450-926-4370, or Fred
Gorell of NOAA, at 301-734-1010.
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 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.
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.
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.
For more information about NEEMO and links to follow the mission on
Facebook and Twitter, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/neemo
For more information about NASA analog field tests, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/
Source: NASA
