NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, is a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

analog mission that sends groups of astronauts, engineers and scientists to live in the

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainment ...

underwater laboratory, the world's only undersea research station, for up to three weeks at a time in preparation for future

space exploration Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration though is conducted both by uncrewed robo ...

. Aquarius is an

underwater habitat Underwater habitats are underwater structures in which people can live for extended periods and carry out most of the basic human functions of a 24-hour day, such as working, resting, eating, attending to personal hygiene, and sleeping. In thi ...

off

Key Largo, Florida Key Largo is a census-designated place in Monroe County, Florida, United States, located on the island of Key Largo in the upper Florida Keys. The population was 12,447 at the 2020 census. The name comes from the Spanish ''Cayo Largo'', or " ...

, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It is deployed on the ocean floor next to deep coral reefs below the surface. NASA has used it since 2001 for a series of space exploration simulation missions, usually lasting 7 to 14 days, with space research mainly conducted by international

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

s. The mission had cost about 500 million U.S. dollars. The crew members are called

aquanaut An aquanaut is any person who remains underwater, breathing at the ambient pressure for long enough for the concentration of the inert components of the breathing gas dissolved in the body tissues to reach equilibrium, in a state known as satura ...

s (as they live underwater at depth pressure for a period equal to or greater than 24 continuous hours without returning to the surface), and they perform EVAs in the underwater environment. A technique known as saturation diving allows the aquanauts to live and work underwater for days or weeks at a time. After twenty four hours underwater at any depth, the human body becomes saturated with dissolved gas. With saturation diving, divers can accurately predict exactly how much time they need to decompress before returning to the surface. This information limits the risk of

decompression sickness Decompression sickness (abbreviated DCS; also called divers' disease, the bends, aerobullosis, and caisson disease) is a medical condition caused by dissolved gases emerging from solution as bubbles inside the body tissues during decompressio ...

. By living in the Aquarius habitat and working at the same depth on the ocean floor, NEEMO crews are able to remain underwater for the duration of their mission. For NASA, the Aquarius habitat and its surroundings provide a convincing analog for space exploration. Much like space, the undersea world is a hostile, alien place for humans to live. NEEMO crew members experience some of the same challenges there that they would on a distant asteroid, planet (i.e. Mars) or Moon. During NEEMO missions, the aquanauts are able to simulate living on a spacecraft and test spacewalk techniques for future space missions. Working in space and underwater environments requires extensive planning and sophisticated equipment. The underwater condition has the additional benefit of allowing NASA to "weight" the aquanauts to simulate different gravity environments. Until 2012, Aquarius was owned by the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditi ...

(NOAA) and operated by the

National Undersea Research Center National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(NURC) at the University of North Carolina–Wilmington as a

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifi ...

study base. Since 2013, Aquarius is owned by

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

(FIU). As part of the FIU Marine Education and Research Initiative, the Medina Aquarius Program is dedicated to the study and preservation of marine ecosystems worldwide and is enhancing the scope and impact of FIU on research, educational outreach, technology development, and professional training. At the heart of the program is the Aquarius Reef Base.

Missions

NEEMO 1: October 21–27, 2001

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Bill Todd, Commander *

Michael L. Gernhardt Michael Landon Gernhardt (born May 4, 1956) is a NASA astronaut and manager of the Environmental Physiology Laboratory, and principal investigator of the Prebreathe Reduction Program (PRP) at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Personal life ...

Michael López-Alegría Michael López-Alegría (born Miguel Eladio López Alegría on May 30, 1958) is an astronaut, test pilot and commercial astronaut with dual nationality, American and Spanish; a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and one International Space ...

Dafydd Williams Dafydd Rhys Williams (alternately known as David Rhys Williams) OC OOnt CCFP FCFP FRCPC FRCP FRCGS (born May 16, 1954) is a Canadian physician, public speaker, CEO, author and a retired CSA astronaut. Williams was a mission specialist o ...

, CSA NURC Support Crew: *

Mark Hulsbeck Mark Whitney Hulsbeck (born February 20, 1956) is an American professional aquanaut. He serves as an Oceanographic Operations Field Manager and research diver for the Aquarius (laboratory), Aquarius Reef Base, the world's only Underwater habitat, ...

Ryan Snow Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elect ...

NEEMO 2: May 13–20, 2002

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

Michael Fincke Edward Michael "Mike"/"Spanky" Fincke (born March 14, 1967) is an American astronaut who formerly held the American record for the most time in space (381.6 days). His record was broken by Scott Kelly on October 16, 2015. Mike Fincke was bor ...

, Commander * Daniel M. Tani *

Sunita Williams Sunita Lyn Williams (born September 19, 1965) is an American astronaut and United States Navy officer who formerly held the records for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time for a woman (50 hours, 40 minutes). Williams was ...

Marc Reagan Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

NURC Support Crew: *Thor Dunmire *

NEEMO 3: July 15–21, 2002

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Jeffrey Williams, Commander *

Gregory Chamitoff Gregory Errol Chamitoff (born 6 August 1962) is a Canadian-born American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He has been to space twice, spending 6 months aboard the ISS across Expedition 17 and 18 in 2008, and another 15 days as part of STS-1 ...

John D. Olivas John Daniel "Danny" Olivas (born May 25, 1966 in North Hollywood, California) is an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. Olivas has flown on two space shuttle missions, STS-117 and STS-128. He performed EVAs on both missions, totaling 3 ...

* Jonathan Dory NURC Support Crew: *Byron Croker *Michael Smith

NEEMO 4: September 23–27, 2002

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Scott Kelly, Commander * Paul Hill *

Rex Walheim Rex Joseph Walheim (born October 10, 1962) is a retired United States Air Force officer, engineer and NASA astronaut. He flew three Space Shuttle missions, STS-110, STS-122, and STS-135. Walheim logged over 566 hours in space, including 36 h ...

* Jessica Meir NURC Support Crew: *

James Talacek James Raymond Talacek is an American professional aquanaut with the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). He serves as Oceanographic Field Operations Manager at Aquarius Reef Base, the world's only undersea research laboratory. Early ...

NEEMO 5: June 16–29, 2003

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

Peggy Whitson Peggy Annette Whitson (born February 9, 1960) is an American biochemistry researcher, retired NASA astronaut, and former NASA Chief Astronaut. Whitson has a total of 665 days in space, more than any other woman or American. Her first space mi ...

, Commander * Clayton Anderson *

Garrett Reisman Garrett Erin Reisman (; born February 10, 1968) is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He was a backup crew member for Expedition 15 and joined Expedition 16 aboard the International Space Station for a short time before becoming a ...

* Emma Hwang NURC Support Crew: *

NEEMO 6: July 12–21, 2004

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * John Herrington, Commander * Nicholas Patrick * Douglas H. Wheelock * Tara Ruttley NURC Support Crew: * Craig B. Cooper *Joseph March *

, Mission Director

NEEMO 7: October 11–21, 2004

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Robert Thirsk, Commander *

Catherine Coleman Catherine Grace "Cady" Coleman (born December 14, 1960) is an American chemist, an engineer, a former United States Air Force colonel, and a retired NASA astronaut. She is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, and departed the Internatio ...

* Michael R. Barratt * Craig McKinley NURC Support Crew: *

* Billy Cooksey * Bill Todd, Mission Director

NEEMO 8: April 20–22, 2005

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

, Commander *

* Scott Kelly *Monika Schultz NURC Support Crew: * Craig B. Cooper *Joseph March * Bill Todd, Mission Director

NEEMO 9: April 3–20, 2006

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

, Commander * Nicole P. Stott *

Ronald J. Garan Jr. Ronald John Garan Jr. (born October 30, 1961) is a retired NASA astronaut. After graduating from State University of New York College at Oneonta in 1982, he joined the United States Air Force, Air Force, becoming a Second Lieutenant in 1984. He ...

* Timothy J. Broderick, M.D. NURC Support Crew: * James F. Buckley *Ross Hein *

, Mission Director

NEEMO 10: July 22–28, 2006

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

Koichi Wakata is a Japanese engineer and a JAXA astronaut. Wakata is a veteran of four NASA Space Shuttle missions, a Russian Soyuz mission, and a long-duration stay on the International Space Station. During a nearly two-decade career in spaceflight, he ha ...

, Commander * Andrew Feustel * Karen L. Nyberg *

Karen Kohanowich Karen Kohanowich is a retired U.S. Naval officer and ocean research and technology program manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER). She was NOAA's Acting Director of ...

NURC Support Crew: *

Dominic Landucci Dominic Landucci is an American professional aquanaut with the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). He served as the Network Analyst at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aquarius Reef Base, the world's only underse ...

, Mission Director

NEEMO 11: September 16–22, 2006

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

Sandra Magnus Sandra Hall Magnus (born October 30, 1964) is an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. She returned to Earth with the crew of STS-119 ''Discovery'' on March 28, 2009, after having spent 134 days in orbit. She was assigned to the crew of ...

, Commander *

Timothy Kopra Timothy Lennart "Tim" Kopra (born April 9, 1963) is an engineer, a Colonel in the United States Army and a retired NASA astronaut. He served aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer for Expedition 20, returning to Earth aboar ...

* Robert L. Behnken *

Timothy Creamer Timothy "TJ" Creamer (born November 15, 1959) is a NASA flight director, retired astronaut and a colonel in the United States Army. Creamer was born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, but considers Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to be his hometown. He is m ...

NURC Support Crew: *Larry Ward *Roger Garcia *

, Mission Director

NEEMO 12: May 7–18, 2007

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper Heidemarie Martha Stefanyshyn-Piper (born February 7, 1963) is an American Naval officer and former NASA astronaut. She has achieved the rank of Captain (naval), Captain in the United States Navy. She is also a qualified and experienced marine ...

, Commander * José M. Hernández * Josef Schmid, M.D. * Timothy J. Broderick, M.D. NURC Support Crew: *

, Mission Director

NEEMO 13: August 6–15, 2007

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Nicholas Patrick, Commander * Richard R. Arnold *

Satoshi Furukawa is a Japanese surgeon and JAXA astronaut. Furukawa was assigned to the International Space Station as a flight engineer on long-duration missions Expedition 28/ 29, lifting off 7 June 2011 and returning 22 November 2011. Medical career Furakawa ...

Christopher E. Gerty Christopher E. Gerty (born October 19, 1975) is an American aerospace engineer who worked on NASA's Constellation Program. Gerty is an advocate of NASA's Open Government Initiative and is a leading voice on the concept of participatory explorati ...

NURC Support Crew: * James F. Buckley *

Dewey Smith Dewey Dewayne Smith (July 24, 1972 – May 5, 2009) was an underwater diver, former United States Navy medic and professional aquanaut. He died during a dive from the Aquarius underwater habitat off Key Largo in May 2009. A subsequent investigati ...

, Mission Director

NEEMO 14: May 10–23, 2010

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

Chris Hadfield Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, and musician. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also se ...

, Commander * Thomas H. Marshburn * Andrew Abercromby *

Steve Chappell Steven Patrick Chappell (born 1969/1970) is an American aerospace engineer. He is a Technical Lead & Research Specialist for Wyle Integrated Science & Engineering at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. He is helping to define ...

Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

*Nate Bender * Bill Todd, Mission Director

NEEMO 15: October 20–26, 2011

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Shannon Walker, Commander *

Takuya Onishi is a Japanese astronaut selected for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2009. He spent four months on board the International Space Station in 2016. Early life Onishi was born in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan on 22 December 1975. He gradu ...

David Saint-Jacques David Saint-Jacques ( , ; born January 6, 1970) is a Canadian astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He is also an astrophysicist, engineer, and a physician. In December 2018, he launched to the International Space Station, as Flig ...

* Steve Squyres Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

*Nate Bender DeepWorker 2000

submersible A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of i ...

crew: * Stanley G. Love * Richard R. Arnold *

NEEMO 16: June 11–22, 2012

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Commander *

Kimiya Yui is a Japanese astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). He was selected for the agency in 2009. Biography Yui, from Nagano Prefecture, enrolled in the Japan Air Self-Defense Force after he graduated from the National Defense ...

* Timothy Peake * Steve Squyres Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

* Justin Brown DeepWorker 2000

crew: * Stanley G. Love * Steve Giddings * Serena M. Auñón * Bill Todd *

* Andrew Abercromby *

SEATEST II: September 9–13, 2013

Space Environment Analog for Testing EVA Systems and Training ( NEEMO 17 ) Designation skipped NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Joseph M. Acaba, Commander *

Kate Rubins Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American aut ...

Andreas Mogensen Andreas Enevold Mogensen (born 2 November 1976) is a Danish engineer and ESA astronaut who is best known for being the first Dane to fly in space as part of the European Space Agency's iriss program. Mogensen has also been involved in a number of ...

Soichi Noguchi is a Japanese aeronautical engineer and former JAXA astronaut. His first spaceflight was as a Mission Specialist aboard STS-114 on 26 July 2005 for NASA's first "return to flight" Space Shuttle mission after the ''Columbia'' disaster. He was a ...

Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

* Otto Rutten

NEEMO 18: July 21–29, 2014

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

Akihiko Hoshide is a Japanese engineer, JAXA astronaut, and former Commander of the International Space Station. On August 30, 2012, Hoshide became the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space. Early life and education He was born in 1968 in Tokyo, Japan. H ...

, Commander * Jeanette J. Epps *

Mark T. Vande Hei Mark Thomas Vande Hei (born November 10, 1966) is a retired United States Army officer and current NASA astronaut who has served as a flight Engineer for Expedition 53, 54, 64, 65, and 66 on the International Space Station. Early life ...

* Thomas Pesquet Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

*Hank Stark (FIU)

NEEMO 19: September 7–13, 2014

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

Randolph Bresnik Randolph James "Komrade" Bresnik (born September 11, 1967) is a retired officer in the United States Marine Corps and an active NASA astronaut. A Marine Aviator by trade, Bresnik was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 19 in May 2004. ...

, Commander *

, Flight Engineer 1 *

Jeremy Hansen Jeremy Roger Hansen (born January 27, 1976) is a current CSA astronaut. He was selected to join the CSA in the 2009 CSA selection along with David Saint-Jacques. Prior to his selection as one of Canada's astronauts, Hansen was a Royal Canadia ...

, Flight Engineer 2 *

Hervé Stevenin Hervé Stevenin (born 25 September 1962 in France) is a European aquanaut leading ESA Neutral Buoyancy Facility Operations and the EVA Training Unit at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany. He served as an aquanaut on the NA ...

, Flight Engineer 3 Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

* Ryan LaPete

NEEMO 20: July 20 – August 2, 2015

NASA Aquanaut Crew: NASA NEEMO 20 Aquanaut Crew

Luca Parmitano Colonel Luca Parmitano (born 27 September 1976 in Paternò, Sicily) is an Italian astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency (ESA). He was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. Parmitano is also a Colonel and ...

, ESA, commander * Serena M. Auñón, NASA * David Coan, NASA EVA Management Office engineer * Norishige Kanai,

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

(FIU) * Sean Moore (FIU) NEEMO 20 mission objective was to simulate the time delays associated with sending and receiving commands between controllers on Earth and astronauts on Mars. Additional EVAs will simulate working on the surface of an asteroid, and the use of the DeepWorker submersible as an underwater stand-in for the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle.

NEEMO 21: July 21 – August 5, 2016

The NEEMO 21 mission was scheduled to begin July 18, 2016 and conclude August 3, 2016; however, the mission start was shifted to July 21, 2016 as a result of unfavorable weather conditions. NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Reid Wiseman, NASA, Commander 1 *

Megan McArthur Katherine Megan McArthur (born August 30, 1971) is an American oceanographer, engineer, and NASA astronaut. She has served as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). Megan McArthur ha ...

, NASA, Commander 2 * Marc O´Gríofa *

Matthias Maurer Matthias Josef Maurer (born 18 March 1970) is a German European Space Agency astronaut and Materials scientist, who was selected in 2015 to take part in space training. Biography Maurer graduated from in Sankt Wendel, Saarland, in 1989.) He t ...

, ESA * Noel Du Toit * Dawn Kernagis Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew: * Hank Stark (FIU) * Sean Moore (FIU)

NEEMO 22: June 18–27, 2017

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Kjell Lindgren, NASA, Commander *

Pedro Duque Pedro Francisco Duque Duque, OF, OMSE (Madrid, 14 March 1963) is a Spanish astronaut and aeronautics engineer who served as Minister of Science of the Government of Spain from 2018 to 2021. He was also Member of the Congress of Deputies from ...

, ESA * Trevor Graff, NASA/Jacobs * Dominic D'Agostino, USF Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

(FIU) * Sean Moore (FIU)

NEEMO 23: June 10–22, 2019

NASA all-female Aquanaut Crew: *

Samantha Cristoforetti Samantha Cristoforetti, OMRI (; born in Milan on 26 April 1977) is an Italian European Space Agency astronaut, former Italian Air Force pilot and engineer. She holds the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut ( ...

, ESA, Commander *

Jessica Watkins Jessica Andrea Watkins (born May 14, 1988) is an American NASA astronaut, geologist, aquanaut and former international rugby player. Watkins was announced as the first Black woman who will complete an International Space Station long-term miss ...

, NASA astronaut candidate * Csilla Ari D’Agostino, a neurobiologist at the University of South Florida * Shirley Pomponi, Marine biologist at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute of Florida Atlantic University Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

(FIU) * Tom Horn (FIU)

References

External links

*
NEEMO missions

Live webcams (subject to mission availability)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neemo NASA programs Controlled ecological life support systems Human analog missions

Missions

NEEMO 1: October 21–27, 2001

NEEMO 2: May 13–20, 2002

NEEMO 3: July 15–21, 2002

NEEMO 4: September 23–27, 2002

NEEMO 5: June 16–29, 2003

NEEMO 6: July 12–21, 2004

NEEMO 7: October 11–21, 2004

NEEMO 8: April 20–22, 2005

NEEMO 9: April 3–20, 2006

NEEMO 10: July 22–28, 2006

NEEMO 11: September 16–22, 2006

NEEMO 12: May 7–18, 2007

NEEMO 13: August 6–15, 2007

NEEMO 14: May 10–23, 2010

NEEMO 15: October 20–26, 2011

NEEMO 16: June 11–22, 2012

SEATEST II: September 9–13, 2013

NEEMO 18: July 21–29, 2014

NEEMO 19: September 7–13, 2014

NEEMO 20: July 20 – August 2, 2015

NEEMO 21: July 21 – August 5, 2016

NEEMO 22: June 18–27, 2017

NEEMO 23: June 10–22, 2019

See also

References

External links