The purpose of the NEEMO missions is to study the affect of isolation in a harsh environment, so, perhaps, it is appropriate that the leader of this crew is Dr, Peggy Whitson, the first Science Officer aboard the international Space Station. She and her team are conducting scientific research on the human body and coral reef environment as well as build undersea structures to simulate space station assembly spacewalk activities.
Accompanying Whitson are astronauts Clay Anderson and Garret Reisman and scientist Emma Hwang, none of whom currently have space experience. Two UNCW staff are leading operational support inside Aquarius, Ryan Snow and James Talacek, both of whom are experienced aquanauts with 8 previous Aquarius missions conducted between them.
Aquarius is similar to the International Space Station in that both are surrounded by an environment in which human life can not exist without mechanical assistance. It is also similar in size to the Zvezda Service Module, home to the astronauts who crew the station. Whitson said that despite the shorter preparation time for this mission, it had many similarities to preparing for a trip to the ISS.
“Arriving into the habitat felt much like our arrival to station, settling into a new and foreign environment,” she says in her journal. “The biggest difference here is that there are certainly a lot more alien life forms floating/swimming around this underwater station than the one circling above the Earth.”
She says that working in Scuba gear and during an EVA in space have some similarities. For instance it does become difficult to maneuver with two hands if you don’t have some foothold to hold your body in position. The advantage under water is gravity, they can usually find anything they drop.
On Wednesday June 25, 2003, I had the opportunity to speak with the NEEMO 5 aquanauts through a link to the Aquarius habitat. Read my interview on the next page.
