Mission Journal 5 — Topside Support: Mission Day 2: Thursday, April 21st, 2005
Greetings from NEEMO Topside!
While NEEMO 8 is only a 3 day mission, our crew got off to a very busy start. Today’s activities were highlighted by a construction task while EVA, working with a Remotely Operated Vehicle, working some more with the control center (ExPOC) in Houston, and two educational outreach events.
Since this mission was sponsored by the Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, it’s important that we demonstrate whether this really is a good analog environment for Exploration. One thing we’ve put a lot of effort into is making the environment during EVAs resemble what we might find on the Moon. Commander Mike Gernhardt, an experienced spacewalker, is now working on the development of our next generation of space suits to support Exploration. In his words (from his journal yesterday): We spent a lot of effort to measure the weight of every component of the diving system, and then using special weight vests, and weighted boots, we weighed ourselves so that we were 1/6 of our weight in Earth gravity. This simulates working in the 1/6 gravity field of the moon. Performing this exercise in 1/6 G was very eye opening and a glimpse into the future of lunar exploration. One thing we learned is that it is better to have your center of gravity at your hips or lower, so that you don’t have the tendency to fall on your face! The ability to use this underwater analogue, with different weightings, and weight distributions will be an important source of information as we develop and optimize new space suits for exploring the moon at 1/6 G and Mars at 3/8 G.
While wearing these properly weighted EVA suits, the crew embarked on a construction task, affectionately known as “Waterlab.” Due to the shortened mission length, only a fraction of the normal structure was built this time. While not nearly as complicated as most space tasks, here, as in space, one’s mobility and dexterity are encumbered, communications are a little ragged at times, and you constantly have to think ahead. With the real–time help of the ExPOC, the crew easily finished the task ahead of schedule.
After the Waterlab EVA ended, the crew and ExPOC engaged in a “lost” tool exercise. The premise was that some tools had been lost during the EVA. Since we knew where they were working, we knew the general area to search. However, rather than perform another somewhat dangerous (at least they are in space) EVA to find them, why not use the ROV to look for them? We commonly use robotics in space operations to help limit crew EVA time, so it’s a reasonable premise. Thanks to our old friends at American Standard Robotics, an ROV was available to support this exercise. Our Topside Team hid a handful of tools in a large sector south of Aquarius. The ExPOC by this time had generated a high fidelity map of the immediate area, and together they and the crew undertook the challenge to find the “lost” tools using the ROV. The crew was at the controls, and part of the time they were running the show, while part of the time the ExPOC was running the show by giving the crew voice commands. (The ExPOC could see the ROV camera view, as well as the views from two cameras stationed outside.) It was an interesting look at crew and control center synergy while operating robotics. Three of the four tools were found successfully. (The fourth had been covered by sand from the current…)
Finally, it was time to end the diving for the mission and prepare for the long decompression which will purge their blood of excess nitrogen and allow them to return safely to the surface. Former Navy DMT Roger Garcia joined our crew of 6 to shepherd them through the oxygen prebreathe and decompression protocol, leading to their “splashup” at 11:30 on Friday.
Thanks for following along. More to come!
— NEEMO 7 Topside Team (Marc Reagan, Bill Todd, Michelle Lucas, and Dan Sedej back in Houston)