Mission Journal 20 — Clayton Anderson: Day 9: Tuesday, June 24th, 2003
Today was a great day. Lots of hard work, both in and outside the habitat. We started a new “spacewalk/SCUBA” activity called coral science. We are helping oceanographers/scientists by evaluating the coral of the reefs in the Florida Keys near Aquarius. Our task is to find representative coral, measure it, videotape it and then estimate the percentage of the coral that is dead or dying. Sounds simple enough, but do you know how much coral there is in the Keys? Lots more than there is in Nebraska!
There was a bit of current out there today which made our 4-hour dive a bit more difficult than usual. So, we were pooped out after that one. A hard swimming workout like that usually means FOOD…and some more science inside the habitat, including Doppler, acoustic measurements, wound photography (ouch…I have contributed mightily here!) and exercise physiology.
So, what is in a name? I stated in an earlier journal that our crew has really bonded. So much so that we all have “call signs” or nicknames. Call signs are a tradition…I guess started in the military, whereby a person does something (not always positive) and gets “stuck” with the call sign. There are some strict “rules” involved:
- You can’t give yourself a call sign.
- If you hate your call sign, and people know you hate it, it will ALWAYS be your call sign.
- Call signs may change as a function of your “status” or endeavors.
- Call signs of more than two syllables are frowned upon and are not often successful (they don’t stick). Consider some examples.
“AccidentlyPinchedbyCaribbeanSpinyLobster” is not a good call sign (Rule 4), but “Pinch” or “Spiny” are fine by themselves. Also, with a bit of refinement to the art, we may arrive at “Pin” or “Spine”; both excellent call signs (again, see Rule 4). If you accidentally injure yourself during work say, by cutting your thumb, possible call signs would be “Thumb” or maybe “Slice.”
Peggy Whitson, our commander, is call sign “Boss.” Simple, straightforward and to the point. It carries the moment; she is, after all the leader of our mission.
Dr. Emma Hwang, our science lead is an excellent example of Call Sign Rule 3. When she draws our blood for our nutritional study experiment, she is “Vampire.” Pre-flight, she earned the moniker “Fleece” as she coordinated the procurement of our mission fleece jackets.
Dr. Garrett Reisman, my astronaut classmate of 1998, is “Chia.” Yes, as in “chia pet.” This label resulted from our pre-mission training on the Doppler experiment. This is the one that requires us all to attach a special probe to our chests…complete with tape whose adhesive levels border on those of electromagnetism or denture adhesive. Let’s just say that when Garrett first tried to remove said tape, we all saw the result and the call sign “Chia” stuck just as hard as the tape did.
And what about me…call sign “George?” Well, suffice it to say that I had a hand in the three previously mentioned nicknames, so turnabout was indeed fair play. Peggy and Emma nailed me to the wall in the very same Doppler training session. You see, I had trouble getting a viable pulmonary artery signal on the device due to my “massive” (my opinion, not necessarily theirs) pectoral muscles. Maybe it wasn’t really muscle, but whatever it was, it was stopping the signal. So there it was that I became “George of the Jungle,” or “George”, for short.
James “Base” Talacek, derives his call sign from an activity that reflects his “thrill seeking” persona…he parachute jumps off of big structures; bridges, buildings, etc. Ryan “Candyman” Snow, while in slight violation of Rule 4 (exceptions may be made, depending on the effectiveness, applicability and longevity of the call sign), earns his tag by being the first to reach (frequently!) for the candy stowage bag.
So there you have it; Boss, Fleece, Chia, Candyman, Base and George. All living together for 14 days in an underwater habitat. What’s that you say…we’re NEEMO 5? I like that call sign best of all.