The mission will debut in a couple of weeks, on July 20

Jul 7, 2015 06:39 GMT  ·  By
An astronaut during the 19th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations
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   An astronaut during the 19th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations

A couple of weeks from now, on July 20, a team of four astronauts led by ESA cosmonaut Luca Parmitano will embark on a 14-day underwater mission. 

The space explorers will dive to the Aquarius underwater research station located off the coast of Florida, US, at a depth of nearly 20 meters (roughly 65 feet). The submerged research station will be their home all throughout the duration of the mission.

The team leader for this assignment might be ESA cosmonaut Luca Parmitano, but the mission is actually the brain child of US space agency NASA.

More precisely, it is NASA's 20th underwater astronaut training mission so far, officially known as NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO, for short).

Apart from Luca Parmitano, the astronauts chosen to spend 14 days living and working in the Aquarius underwater research station are NASA astronaut Serena Aunon, NASA spacewalk specialist David Coan, and Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai.

Why send astronauts underwater?

As mentioned, this NASA mission is meant as training. No, the team of cosmonauts will not be training to become mermaids or anything of the sorts. Rather, the 14-day assignment is expected to prepare them for life in space.

Using special equipment, the astronauts will be able to adjust their buoyancy to simulate gravity on the Moon, Mars, asteroids and other orbs. Experimenting with different gravity levels will in turn train them for spaceflight and missions to foreign celestial bodies.

“Space agencies are always looking for ways to prepare and train for spaceflight without leaving Earth. Astronauts from all Space Station partners join to make the experience as realistic as possible - working efficiently and safely with a culturally diverse team is part of the package,” ESA explains.

Apart from simulating different gravity levels to get a feel of what visiting Mars, the Moon or other orb would be like, the underwater explorers will get to test equipment designed to ease communication with base and with each other while in extreme conditions.

One of the devices that will be put to the test during this upcoming mission is a so-called wearable mobile procedure viewer (MobiPV, for short), ESA details in its report concerning the assignment.

The device, shown in the photo below, makes it possible for the astronauts to receive hands-free audio and video instructions. What this means is that they don't have to pause a task at hand to check what they are supposed to do next as the information reaches them effortlessly.

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen wearing a headset that is part of the Mobi-PV experiment
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen wearing a headset that is part of the Mobi-PV experiment

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An astronaut during the 19th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen wearing a headset that is part of the Mobi-PV experiment
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