Mission Day 3: Monday, July 24th, 2006
Another wet and busy day on Aquarius. The goal of the morning dive was to map the Aquarius work area with a diver hand-held acoustic navigational device. It uses Doppler acoustic technology and a compass to map the bottom. The key is to start the mapping operation at the same place each time you gather data.
The second objective was to have the Exploration Planning Operations Center (ExPOC ), simulating Houston Mission Control, drive the remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) behind the divers to collect simulated lunar samples. K2 and Drew were the divers on this operation. K2 started out with the navigational device and marked the man-made objects in the sandy work area and the limits of the eastern coral reef boundary. In the south section of the work area, the reef becomes more tongue-and-groove oriented, roughly north/south, so the divers were especially careful to manage the umbilicals over the corals. The conditions were good, but a slight ½-knot current to the south was enough to tug the neutral umbilicals, and make walking ‘uphill’ back to the Aquarius more challenging than downhill. In all, the team mapped almost 20 coral outcrops. If the data is good, it will be a useful baseline for future Aquarius surveys.
The team got the “Scuttle” ROV off to a good start by staging its umbilical at the high-pressure air tanks, away from the habitat work area. The sandy bottom was perfect for driving the Scuttle in bottom crawl mode. Karen N. even perfected a wheelie to hop over the umbilical when necessary!
The exercise portion completed early, so K2 and Drew took advantage of the time to scout out the western edge of the coral reef to prepare for the second part of the exercise. They were eyed the whole time by a quiet but wary-looking silver barracuda.
Lunchtime was a whirlwind of activity as the crew showered, gulped down bags of food, and readied for a one hour public affairs event with Japanese and German filmmakers. Much of the discussion was in Japanese (Otter was surprised at how well Koichi spoke the language!), but the team was able to rave about the unique experience and the NASA/NOAA cooperation that makes it happen.
The afternoon exercise was a physical workout for the divers and a mental dance for the inside tender (IV). Koichi and Karen were outfitted in the moon simulation PLSS rigs and sent out to the sand patch to find ten marked and flagged weights - in order! The IV, K2, kept track of the location of the divers with transponders attached to their rigs (the ’sending’ part of the transponder is located above the Aquarius’ southeast corner) and a computer program. When the team found a marker out of order, she marked the location so that she could send them back when it was in the right sequence. Aside from a little dancing with umbilicals, the team found nine of the ten markers with no trouble in the time allotted.
The second part of their task was the workout! The divers wore the Navy Mark 12 coverall suits, which have weights distributed on your hips, thighs, and shin areas. In order to test different spacesuit weights, the divers tried on six different weight distributions - in a ten-minute endurance test! The test included four laps of the 20-foot course, shoveling 15 shovelfuls of sand, placing ten weights in and out of stacked milk cartons and climbing a ladder. Karen and Koichi were great sports and powered through the task without complaint. Mike Gernhardt assured us all that our efforts would be integral to the success of the next spacesuit!
Drew and K2 took advantage of some timelined hookah dive time to find out which fish visit the Aquarius at night. There’s nothing like the view of the Aquarius at night when you’re on your own with a mask and regulator, looking back at this odd steel behemoth looming over you, lights skewed like a UFO. Tonight two sea turtles flew slowly through the lights, banking up towards the surface when they saw the strange black-suited diver with the light laser. The grates glow with blue florescent copepods, fish come out of nowhere, and Stella and Lucy take on a whole new aura as they float back and forth in front of the bedroom viewport. You’re back on the other side of the aquarium!
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