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

Today is Mission Day 13…”Deco Day.” That means that on this day we begin our “travel” back up to the surface. Not that we really begin to travel.

You see “Deco” is short for decompression. For the past 13 days we have been saturation diving. That means that we have as much nitrogen within our tissues as our bodies will allow…we are nitrogen saturated. And as is the case with any diver, now begins the process of removing that nitrogen from our system. If we don’t do that, we could suffer from Decompression Sickness (DCS), more commonly referred to as “the bends,” and a potentially fatal result.

Beginning at 4 o’clock Florida time, the Aquarius Habitat will undergo a bit of a transformation. Our hab techs, James and Ryan, in concert with the timeline, will convert the Habitat into a decompression chamber on the ocean floor. Then, we will release the high pressure (2.5 times sea level) from within the habitat (slowly…very slowly!) so that the habitat internal pressure will begin to approach sea level pressure. Think of it by imagining that the habitat is a scuba diver, slowly “swimming” to the surface.

The entire process takes 16-17 hours and begins with us breathing pure oxygen over some short time intervals. This helps to quick start the nitrogen purge because during this time our “ascent” to the surface is moving at the fastest rate…i.e., the rate of the pressure change is greatest. Then things slow way down as we continue the process over the next 14 hours or so at a considerably lower pressure change with time. We will pass the time by completing and packing all of our experiments and personal effects for “potting” to the surface. In addition, we will be enjoying some DVD movies, sleeping (one of my favorite sports!) and no doubt reflecting on our time here beneath the sea.

This will be my final journal entry. So it is appropriate, I think, that I take a few lines to thank the folks that have helped to make this mission a success.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the University of North Carolina- Wilmington (UNCW) and the Key Largo office of the National Undersea Research Center (NURC), owners and operators of the habitat, have been absolutely outstanding. Their high level of training and professionalism and constant adherence to the “safety at all costs” premise have indeed been comforting! They have supported us with boats and boat captains, teleconferencing capability, scuba trainers, equipment managers and doctors. To Kea, Birnsey, Coop, Otter, Jim, Dominic, Dr. Jay, Dr. Steve, Kim, Billy, Kendall, Otto, Smitty, Roger, Byron, Hal and Thor; my heartfelt thanks to you, our “watchdogs” and our newest friends.

NASA and our topside crew, including the Expeditionary Planning and Operations Center (ExPOC) Team have been with us the entire way, providing excellent support as our “Mission Control.” Their Shuttle and Station counterparts should be duly impressed by their performance. To Bill, Monika, Marc, ‘Chelle, Ann, Vernelle, Sam, Satish, Vickie and Susan and all of her ExPOC’ers, please know that your efforts are truly appreciated. We hope you could tell that we were indeed having fun!

Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my crewmates. Commander Peggy, Garrett, Emma and Hab Techs James and Ryan; it has been a remarkable experience and an “extreme (environment)” pleasure! Thanks for putting up with my sense of humor, Nebraska heritage and comments about peach ambrosia! You were before, and certainly are now, my heroes and my friends. Let’s go to space next, shall we?

Now it’s on to my next “life experience.”

Signing off from Aquarius, 62 feet beneath the sea…

Clayton Anderson

It’s been a grand mission and one that I will remember fondly. The teamwork that went on was great and it allowed us to overcome many challenges. A lot of attention is always paid to the specific goals and tasks of the mission. This is done before during and after the mission takes place. Of course this makes perfect sense, to plan everything out. The NEEMO topside crew puts a lot of work into creating the timeline and coordinating the logistics with the Aquarius topside team. All the preparation certainly paid off and has had direct influence on the success of this mission.

However, what is success, or even failure for that matter, if it is not shared with others? The mission objectives are the focus, but the camaraderie is the real reward. Some friendships made here may be lifelong while others may fade quickly, but what won’t be forgotten is the time shared when we were in the Aquarius Habitat. It’s been a mixture of being at work, college, and summer camp, all at the same time.

The place in which we live, the Habitat, seems to come alive and have the real feeling of a home. During a mission it takes on a personality that is not there at other times. During non-mission operations, when we are doing maintenance, we can only come down for ninety minutes at a time before we need to return to the surface. Otherwise we’d end up starting an unwanted saturation mission. Since we don’t keep the Habitat running all the time, the first group of divers that come down to do work must power up everything. Essentially someone must open up and turn the lights on. It’s dark and lifeless. Soon power is turned on and everything is up and running. It may look the same as during a mission but it doesn’t have the same feel. It’s not only missing the physical presence of the six aquanauts but it doesn’t have everything else that comes along with them. It may be the knowing that there are people watching you 24 hours a day, or that someone else has planned out your next meal, or that you have to tell someone when you go to the bathroom. It’s the people with whom you’re down here that make this experience great. The crew of NEEMO 5 performed with excellence and still had a great time doing so.

It’s been an honor and a pleasure to live and work with my five crewmates over the past two weeks. Aquarius has delivered us safely through another mission and I will be sad to leave. To everyone involved with Aquarius and NEEMO, it has been a wonderful experience and I am thankful for the opportunity to participate.

This morning started off early, with us leaving the habitat just after 6 am. The best part about this dive was that the only objective was to have some fun! We videotaped some of the “night-life” using our flashlights to illuminate those interesting anemone I described earlier and some of the other dramatic colors in the corals that decorate the habitat.

Then, as dawn approached, we explored the 5th Leg. We have 5 different “excursion lines” that radiate from the habitat. We use these as our “roads”, so that we don’t get lost. You might be surprised how easy it is to get disoriented in the water, especially at those times when visibility is limited. In fact, if we want to travel out of range of site of the excursion line, we have to attach another line from one of our reels of string onto this line so that we will always have a way to get back. With saturation diving, going to the surface to get a bearing on the life support buoy is only a last ditch method of finding your way home.

We had spent 4 days this week on the 5th Leg doing coral science research, and it now is familiar stomping grounds. The dimensions, coral health and videotape will hopefully prove valuable in an ongoing research project to map the coral life on this reef. This project is especially interesting to me because while on orbit, I also participated in a coral mapping study in which designated reefs were photographed from our vantage point in space to help the folks on Earth who were conducting studies on and mapping coral reefs. Coral from underwater is extraordinary, with all different shapes, textures, colors and size. While I really enjoyed this close-up of the coral reef, the view from space looks like the work of an artist’s hands in all shades imaginable (and then some more) of aqua, blue and white.

We had seen numerous types of wildlife during the week on the 5th Leg, and we wondered what types we might observe in the early morning hours. The large moray eel was not sleeping in his cubby hole of coral and sand that we had found him in on a couple of occasions earlier this week, but we found a spotted eel that didn’t look all that pleased that we had disturbed him.

We also spotted a jellyfish by chance. It’s nearly invisible body is made up of wings, with the only really distinguishing and slightly more visible characteristic being the dual horn-like structures along its back. You pretty much have to take our word for it that we saw it, since the video camera couldn’t quite manage to find anything to focus on!

After returning to the habitat for an air refill, we headed out the Pinnacle excursion line. This line is my favorite because the terrain drops steeply away to one side and climbs on the other side. The reefs form rows, running downhill, with white sand beds between. Previously, in this area we had experienced what an upwelling feels like. Cold water, filled with nutrients, can really reduce the visibility and change the water temperature dramatically over a very short distance. This morning the visibility was good enough to enjoy the expanse and dramatic relief of the coral reef surrounding us.

Well, I’m back in my bunk again…yeah, yeah, ask my wife and she’ll tell you I love to get my “beauty sleep (and of course, you realize it’s not helping much!).” It’s been really difficult trying to decide what to write about today. Not because the day wasn’t filled with activity; it was. The difficulty comes with the reality that today was our last time to dive and our adventure is fast drawing to a close.

Our final dive was grand…beginning before dawn we ventured out onto Conch Reef to view the deep with the rise of the sun. The creatures were magnificent, as always. Multiple sting rays, our friends the nurse sharks and several of their friends. That was topped off with a visit from some sea turtles, the first that I had seen the entire 14 days. All were stirring with the beginning of a new day and obviously ravenous appetites (so I kept my distance!).

As our 3 hour dive limit neared, and our compressed air tanks continued to deplete, my crewmates and I took some time to just cruise around the outside of the habitat. One last look at our home for the past 14 days. We hopped up onto the “deck grate”, near the wet porch and performed numerous “Stupid Aquanaut Tricks,” including synchronized diving, leap frog and other “…escapades into frivolity.” It was a blast and most of it was captured on video, thanks to our hab tech and “Hookah King” Ryan (that’s a whole different story!). The only good part about the conclusion of our final dive was the realization that we didn’t have to put on our nasty smelling dive gear any more!

In retrospect, this has been a fantastic experience. First and foremost it has given me a clearer appreciation for what I might expect on my first flight into outer space. I have new-found respect for the need to “stay on your timeline” and not get behind; a respect that is sometimes hard to “sense” in simulations back in Houston. I understand more keenly the teamwork involved in executing a fully successful mission…one that achieves all of its mission objectives. I am also more aware of the required cooperation, tolerance and patience that must exist in crewmates in order to live in confined spaces for extended periods. I more fully appreciate how humor and laughter can go a long way to smooth over stressful or disappointing situations. However, most of all, I have a better understanding of who I am and how I will be expected to perform on a demanding shuttle or space station mission.

I don’t know what the future holds for me as an astronaut. I can only hope that we will return to flight very soon and that my name will be called one day. But for now, my future is Sunday.

Mission day 11. The day I’ve been waiting for…. I say that because previously my longest mission has been ten days. So I’ve been looking forward to waking up to “day 11″. Where to start? Oh yeah, if you haven’t read Garrett and Clay’s journals, do so. Those guys missed their calling as stand up comedians.

It’s about 9:30 pm and this day is slowly winding down. What a day! It started as all days start for habitat technicians… the daily checklist, complemented by a minimum of two cups of cocoa. After all the systems checks were done, I headed out on a routine habitat maintenance dive. First thing on the agenda was to drill some holes through a steel member on the baseplate for a new camera mount. The job was going well, but my thoughts were elsewhere. Below the habitat was a huge “ball” of baitfish stealing my attention away from the task at hand. I had to take a break…oh wait, I mean investigate.

I found thousands of small baitfish swirling around one of the baseplate legs. As I moved in closer the sight was amazing. Lots of yellowtail snapper and various jacks were feeding at a frenzied rate. Two nurse sharks and a large stingray were “buried” in the mix of fish. I observed them laying on the bottom sucking in as many of the little fellas as they could. They must have been getting a mouthful of sand also because I saw them exhaling some sand through their gills. As I crept in closer I saw a green moray eel wrapped around the pivot bearing and getting in on his share of the meal.

The sharks and ray, which are normally a little skiddish, seemed to be unfettered by my presence. I guess the meal was too good to worry about me. After a few minutes of observing I decided it was time to get back to work. Upon arrival atop the base plate I found a damsel fish attempting to nudge away my bag of pneumatic drill accoutrements. Apparently I had left it too close to one of his egg sacks clinging to the baseplate.

As I got back to work I couldn’t help feeling extremely lucky. All of these cool sights within the first 30, oh I mean “15″, minutes of my dive. And they actually pay me to do this? No amount of overtime pay could equal the satisfaction of an experience like this… Although it would make expensive hobbies a little more affordable.

After lunch we all participated in various public affairs events ranging from interviews by CNN, to a newspaper in Lincoln, Nebraska. Those events are always fun. Although thoughts are still racing through my head I must stop here. Wake up call tomorrow is 5:00 am and I’m not what you’d call a morning person.