The October 16 episode of “Classroom Under the Sea” will address how underwater training helps prepare astronauts for space exploration through programs such as the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) project. In the underwater image, an engineering crew diver simulates anchoring to an asteroid surface. (Photos courtesy of NASA)
The artist’s concept image shows how an astronaut might use a similar process to anchor to an asteroid.
How do astronauts learn how to land on an asteroid? They practice under the sea.
Astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Mike Gernhardt will discuss how the undersea environment has helped astronauts train for missions beyond the atmosphere during the next episode of “Classroom Under the Sea,” an online lecture series hosted by two educators living underwater for 73 days. The live program starts at 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, October 16. Viewers can watch at roanestate.edu/classroomunderthesea and on youtube.com/classroomunderthesea.
Biology professor Bruce Cantrell and adjunct professor Jessica Fain from Roane State Community College in East Tennessee are living and working in an underwater habitat—Jules’ Undersea Lodge on Key Largo in the Florida Keys—for 73 days. While in the habitat, Fain and Cantrell are hosting “Classroom Under the Sea,” presented by Roane State and the Marine Resources Development Foundation on Key Largo.
During the October 16 episode, Aldrin and Gernhardt will highlight how undersea simulations help astronauts prepare for journeys to asteroids and to Mars. Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, pioneered underwater training techniques. [Read more…]
