Blue Abyss is a research pool planned for construction in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It will be deep with a volume of approximately , making it the world's second deepest pool after the Deep Dive Dubai. The Blue Abyss pool will be used for training and development for

commercial diving Commercial diving may be considered an application of professional diving where the diver engages in underwater work for industrial, construction, engineering, maintenance or other commercial purposes which are similar to work done out of the wate ...

space exploration Space exploration is the process of utilizing astronomy and space technology to investigate outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted bo ...

human life science Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

, and

submersibles A submersible is an underwater vehicle which needs to be transported and supported by a larger ship, watercraft or dock, platform. This distinguishes submersibles from submarines, which are self-supporting and capable of prolonged independent ope ...

. This pool could aid in reducing risk in extreme environments, including space and the sub-aquatic.

The pool

The pool itself will have several entrance points and includes a series of depths. The multi-level depths of the pool has many functions, including 'Astrolab' at . The total surface area of the pool is planned to be , and its deepest point at , giving a total volume of 42,000m

^3

of water. The pool was designed by architect Robin Partington. The facility itself will include: * A multi-layered pool * Sliding roof to facilitate insertion of larger objects into pool *

Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

training centre * Hypobaric and

hyperbaric Hyperbaric medicine is medical treatment in which an increase in barometric pressure of typically air or oxygen is used. The immediate effects include reducing the size of gas emboli and raising the partial pressures of the gases present. Initial ...

chambers *

Microgravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

suite * Training center with six classrooms * Diving quality compressed gas supply (air and nitrox) * Secure workshops, lay down areas and storage * Onsite catering * Hotel

Commercial diving

The Blue Abyss will aid in testing, training, and pre-operational exercises for the

sector. The pools indoor facility will allow for diving any time and year round. The facility will not be dependent on weather. A 30-tonne crane and lifting platforms will allow for roof access to the pool, and the sliding roof will facilitate access to insert larger training objects into the pool. The pool will allow for deep water training for offshore and inshore commercial divers and diving teams. This training will include scenarios and conditions that otherwise would be impossible for safe diving training. This would allow for an acceleration of emergency services,

oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

research,

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, and

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

Submersibles

Submersible vehicles are a new alternative to classic diving methods. The indoor pool will permit a controlled environment allowing for submersible trials and training, including simulations. This would reduce the risk of subsea operations by moving trials and training into a safe and heavily monitored facility. Testing and training is expected to include hydrographic, pipeline and cable surveys, inspections of

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

foundations, vessel hulls and installations, oceanographic studies, and even film production. The pool will include roof access, as well as an R&D capability for new ROV and AUV sub-systems.

Space exploration

The Blue Abyss will provide a facility for spaceflight simulation, like a mission to Mars simulation. It will offer safety and experience for astronauts undergoing human spaceflight training. The facility will include a

neutral buoyancy pool A neutral buoyancy pool or neutral buoyancy tank is a pool of water in which neutral buoyancy is used to Neutral buoyancy simulation as a training aid, train astronauts for extravehicular activity and the development of procedures. These pools beg ...

parabolic flight A reduced-gravity aircraft is a type of fixed-wing aircraft that provides brief near-weightless environments for training astronauts, conducting research, and making gravity-free movie shots. Versions of such airplanes were operated by the NA ...

and

centrifuge A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to subject a specimen to a specified constant force - for example, to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby ...

training, hypo and hyperbolic chambers and micro-gravity simulation suite, and an environmental research centre.

Human life science

The centre will provide

human physiology The human body is the entire structure of a human being. It is composed of many different types of cells that together create tissues and subsequently organs and then organ systems. The external human body consists of a head, hair, neck, ...

and human robotic interface R&D capabilities. This will allow for extreme environment research, including human spaceflight. The Kuehnegger Human Performance Centre will have astronaut and athlete test and evaluation facilities, with full-body suspension and hypobaric chambers for

altitude training Altitude training is the practice by some endurance athletes of training for several weeks at high altitude, preferably over above sea level, though more commonly at intermediate altitudes due to the shortage of suitable high-altitude locations. ...

References

External links

* {{Recreational dive sites, trasit Research and development in the United Kingdom Swimming pools Space industry Swimming venues in England Underwater diving sites in England