Ask an Aquanaut: Short visits
Amber Diekmann asked: Hi,
I was wondering, if Mr. Houwen is down at the aquarius for a short time period, how can he be down there for a short time if it takes 17 hours to adjust to the different pressures of air?
Amber,
That is a very good question. The 17 hour figure that you mention is the decompression period that Dewey spoke about in the third show only applies to people who have been submerged for longer periods of time. That is why the aquanauts are called “saturation” divers. After an extended period of time, the body’s tissues are saturated with nitrogen and so they have to undergo the decompression treatment.
I was diving within “no-decompression limits” meaning I was diving for only a short period of time, so there is no need for decompression. My “dive” this morning, which consisted of a couple of minute descent to the Aquarius, about 40 minutes in the habitat for the show, and a couple of minute ascent totaled only 53 minutes at a maximum depth of 50 feet. My dive tables, which normal scuba divers use, allow for a maximum of seventy minutes under those conditions. In fact, since I’ve been out of the water now for over 4 hours, I could actually do another dive right now to that depth and be able to stay down for 49 more minutes without having to decompress. I was well within my limits.
Steve Houwen
Alameda High School
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