The scientists are all out at their site and my fellow habitat technician Mark is out on hooka doing husbandry on the habitat. Alone at last. Most of the time so far there has been someone else in here with me. I love their company but its unique to be in here by myself. The visibility is great and I look forward to my hooka dive later today. Yesterday while out diving the water began to get very cloudy even though it was only about 4:30pm. Closer inspection showed that frond oysters,a very common bi-valve on the habitat, were spawning! Clouds of red eggs and white sperm were being expelled making it look like Aquarius was smoking. There is so much marine life here on and around Aquarius that you never know what you will see! Well gotta go, divers coming back.
More later.
Otto Rutten
Aquarius Reef Base, Associate Director, habitat technician and aquanaut
Related Links
Mission Summary
Aquanaut Profiles
Mission Photos
Tony Lucas writes: I have been an avid watcher of the Aquarius missions for the last four years, and would just like to wish everybody involved with Aquarius a fruitful 2008 research year.
Being disabled and having a strong interest in marine biology, the Aquarius missions are the highlight of the year for me. I have followed the expedition logs closely and have many still imagine screen captures of the various missions.
I wish you all a very safe and knowledge filled 2008 season on Aquarius.
A big THANKS Tony for your enthusiasm and interest in Aquarius. We love to hear from our fans and it really means a lot to all of us to know that people like you enjoy following along on missions - stay tuned!
Ellen Prager
Chief Scientist, Aquarius Reef Base
MICHAEL C.GRANT/SCIENTIST/EDUCATOR asks: I am a research scientist/educator/certified diver. ABOUT 5MOS AGO, I BEGAN FORMULATING A HYPOTHESIS WHICH MAY RESOLVE THE PROBLEMS WITH BONE DENSITY DIMINUATION DURING LONG TERM SPACE FLIGHT.QUESTION:CAN NEEMO PROVIDE A TEMPLATIVE NEGATIVE OR ZERO GRAVITY ENVIRONMENT, WHICH WOULD ALLOW ME TO TEST MY HYPOTHESIS?
Dear Michael
Aquarius and the NEEMO type mission is probably not what you are looking for as the conditions the aquanauts live in are different than zero or negative gravity, they live in a higher pressure environment versus lower pressure, with gravity in the habitat and working in the water actually uses quite a bit of muscle strength - thus the issues with muscles and I suspect bone density are not analagous.
That said, stay tuned for our next NEEMO mission in 2008 and when we have a NASA expert on site, maybe he or she can answer a related question for you.
Dr. Ellen Prager
Chief Scientist, Aquarius Reef Base