Life Below
Our aquanauts are now beginning their seventh day living among the fish. The research is reportedly going well as they continue to take detailed measurements of how the water flows in, around, and out of sponges on the reef. Measurements of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrates along with other chemical substances in the water are streaming in through the mass spectrometer and water samples continue to be collected around the clock.
While the scientists have been pursuing their studies, our expert habitat technicians have also been working hard to ensure the safety of the researchers and that all life support systems are working and on target, regularly checking in with the shore based crew, and performing maintenance tasks both inside of Aquarius and on the outside.
And in between their duties, all of the aquanauts are enjoying the spectacular scenery undersea and what life is like living in an undersea research station. After long hours and very early morning diving, rest is welcome and sleep sound. Most aquanauts say they sleep well in Aquarius – unless there is a snorer among the team, but even then sometimes tiredness overcomes the nightly noise.
Meal times in Aquarius are an important part of the day. Aquanauts that spend six to nine hours a day diving expend a lot of energy and need to refuel their bodies between dives. Meals are also a time for aquanauts to laugh over what the high pressure atmosphere can do to food containers that contain air or how things tend to taste bland. Aquanaut on this mission and Aquarius oceanographic field operations manager, Mark Hulsbeck says that his favorite food down below is cheese quesadilla’s with lots of salsa. Although he also reveals that he tends to put hot sauce on most of his food, even when living at the surface. From my missions as an aquanaut, I happen to know that chocolate still tastes particularly good down below. Hot chocolate and soup are common favorites. There is no oven or stove for safety reasons, but there is a microwave, cooler, and instant hot water maker. Most meals consist of freeze-dried foods that are reconstituted with hot water, including eggs and bacon, a variety of beef, chicken, and pasta dishes, and even deserts. And every once in a while a diver may make a special delivery to the aquanauts – such as pizza.
Stay tuned as the aquanauts wrap up their science in the next few days, prepare for decompression and the return to a landlubber existence.
Dr. Ellen Prager
Chief Scientist, Aquarius Reef Base
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