Ask an Aquanaut: Missions
Florence and Emma white asked: How do your misions work?
What is it like to practically live under water?
Dear Florence and Emma
Those are two good, big questions. I’ll try to hit some highlights….
Missions last typically from one to two weeks, plus a week of training beforehand. During the week of training the aquanauts plan out what they will be doing during the mission, including the dive schedule, experiments and other work they want to get done. Our staff is also busy at that time running the training program, making sure the habitat is operating smoothly and everything is in working order. They also use special pots to dive food, personal items, and equipment down for inside the habitat. The mission begins as the aquanauts dive down and enter Aquarius and begin living undersea inside the habitat. They can dive 6 to 9 hours a day down to about 95 feet and accomplish lots of work and science underwater that would be very timely and costly if working from the surface. After a mission, as previously described, they go through 17 hours of decompression in the habitat before returning to the surface.
The best thing about living underwater is the view! Living inside Aquarius the aquanauts get to see the surrounding reef, fish and waters 24 hours a day - you never know what might pass by a viewport or what you might see. Food tends to taste bland living at high-pressure, and without a stove or oven, the aquanauts feast mainly on dehydrated meals that are prepared by adding hot water….just like astronauts. There is also a microwave and sometimes, on special occassions a diver may make a special delivery. The aquanauts sleep in bunks and our habitat technicians and staff keep careful watch of all the life support systems and workings of the habitat and divers.
Thanks for the question.
Ellen Prager
Chief Scientist
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