Why NASA astronauts practice for their space missions on the seafloor
Space missions are not easily achieved endeavors and require immense practice and preparation from the crew. The training program for the unprecedented conditions of space is fulfilled by sending astronauts and equipment underwater. The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations project, or NEEMO, was initiated in 2001 for the same purpose. The most recent expedition was undertaken by an all-female crew, who trained for nine days underwater. The training takes place in Aquarius, the only undersea research station in the world, in the Atlantic.
The most recent mission was NEEMO 23 in 2019, when a crew of aquanauts and astronauts went underwater for nine days. Training astronauts, engineers, and scientists underwater was to imitate the minimal gravity environment of space. Spacewalks can be simulated underwater for astronauts, scientists can test their research conditions, and engineers can work on testing and repairing equipment. The success of training underwater shifted the reliance on spacecraft mockups and temporary models to a permanent solution. This led to the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, created in the 1990s.
The Aquarius Reef Base is situated 62 feet below the ocean, off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. It is the ideal testing ground for deep space technologies and procedures, along with the experience of a confined space. The latest expedition was the first NEEMO mission that had an all-female NASA research team. Data collected from these periods was used to understand the behavioral patterns of all astronauts. However, an all-male crew defeated this purpose, and this was the first deviation from the norm, though the program has been around for decades.
“It’s important to collect data on both genders,” stated crew member Csilla Ari D’Agostino, a neurobiologist at the University of Southern Florida. “If there’s a difference, we need to figure out how to manage that. If there’s not, then we need to know that, too,” they added. The team was led by Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who spent a European record spaceflight of 200 days in space. Aquanaut Shirley Pomponi, a marine biologist of a marine biologist at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute of Florida Atlantic University, and NASA astronaut candidate Jessica Watkins were also part of the crew.
NEEMO functions with a technique called saturation diving, which predicts how much time is required to decompress before surfacing. This helps to reduce the risk of decompression sickness, as the human body gets saturated with dissolved gas after 24 hours underwater. Not only astronauts, but experienced divers and researchers accompanied them on the mission. NEEMO 23 tested new equipment and protocols for the International Space Station, such as the handheld sampling tool for planetary sediments. Ari D’Agostino also hinted at the physical exertion of diving.
“Sometimes I’d be communicating with four different people at one time,” Pomponi commented. “I’d be communicating with the divers, with science communications, with mission control and with somebody inside the habitat,” they added, as per Smithsonian Magazine. This was the best scenario for Ari D’Agostino to study group dynamics and behavioral shifts under stressful conditions. A typical day of the training involved around five hours of testing equipment and collecting samples outside their base. Successful training produced great results for future space missions.
