Mission & Project Info | NOAA’s Aquarius Undersea Laboratory
Mission Blog

The first Aquarius saturation mission for 2010 was a combination of staff training and a “shakedown dive” for the habitat and Life Support Buoy (LSB), following winter maintenance on the topside and underwater support equipment and adoption of new procedural requirements.

The crew headed offshore early Tuesday afternoon, and following some debugging of the Life Support Buoy’s remote monitoring system, the first three Aquanauts (James Talacek, Brad Peadro and Jason Nunn) dove to the habitat around 5 p.m. and moved in. They spent the evening reviewing habitat systems.

On Wednesday morning Brad and Jason deployed new diver umbilicals in the Wet Porch while Lead Habitat Technician, James, worked with Network Analyst Dominic Landucci installing and debugging habitat video and audio systems. Although one bad connector was identified for replacement, audio systems worked as designed; providing voice communication between umbilical divers and the Watch Desk.

Late in the afternoon, following some equipment transfer dives and generator maintenance on the Life Support Buoy, Saul Rosser was escorted to the Habitat, joining the other aquanauts for the remainder of the mission. Jason was already out on an umbilical dive while Saul and Brad would go out later in the evening. The purpose of these dives was to train the three divers on habitat systems. New employees at Aquarius Reef Base typically participate in a staff mission to provide thorough system training. During this mission, they train on interior systems under a Lead Habitat Technician and they also go outside and trace all piping. All three divers completed these valve trace-outs in dives on Wednesday and again Thursday Morning.

Following Thursday morning dives, Decompression Technician Nate Bender arrived around 3 p.m. and decompression commenced at 4 p.m., lasting 16 hours and 30 minutes. During decompression, a new floor covering was installed, Nate conducted training on habitat electrical systems, and all trainees got an opportunity to control decompression for a few hours.

In addition to habitat activities, this staff mission provided shore based personnel a chance to practice and train on Watch Desk, surface support and emergency procedures. An emergency response drill was conducted at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning and involved the call-up of all personnel and deployment of the fast response boat.

These training missions are critical to assuring every future mission is a success. Check back here often or follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay up-to-date on the many exciting missions planned for the rest of the year!