| Training
Journals |
NEEMO
7, Day 1
Mike Barratt | "We
survived the first day of real training more or less unscathed."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Day 2
Mike Barratt | "Everyone
is working at breakneck pace to bring the myriad of details together to make this
mission work: building hardware, taking measurements, nervously awaiting overdue
shipments, testing network connections, training on experiments and serving as
subjects for same."
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NEEMO
7, Day 2
Bob Thirsk | "Our
mission training is challenging but there is nothing else that I would rather
be doing. I feel fortunate to be involved in an undersea mission."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Day 3
Mike Barratt | "Traversing
a reef without a mask is not so bad, if you don't mind swimming through a Picasso
painting looking for something that's more usable than artistic."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Day 4
Mike Barratt | "Until
today, our reef training had indeed been fairly silent, broken only by a few bubbles
from our own exhalations. All that changed with the addition of comm masks to
our technical diving rigs."
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NEEMO
7, Day 7
Mike Barratt | "We
had our first view of the 'Waterlab' structure following Friday's dive, assembled
on land; it will be one of our jobs to re-assemble this on the sea floor out in
front of the habitat."
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| Mission
Journals |
NEEMO
7, Day 1
Topside Team | "The
7th NEEMO mission has officially begun with a 11:25 EST "splashdown" of the crew,
following an intense week of training all last week."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Day 1
Craig McKinley | "It
is difficult to explain what it is like living in an underwater habitat. We have
day and night but we do not have a clear sunrise and sunset."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Day 1
Mike Barratt | "Living
down here is very comfortable and unique, similar to what I imagine for a space
mission. It is small and cozy, food smells good, the excitement is contagious,
and the view out the window is striking."
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... |
NEEMO
7, Day 1
Bob Thirsk | "It
seems as though laws of physics that were familiar to me on the surface are strangely
altered undersea ... The voices of my crewmates and I are ever so slightly 'Donald
Duck.'"
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NEEMO
7, Day 2
Topside Team | "Today
the crew performed a procedure called a 'laparoscopic cholecystectomy,' which
basically means removing the gallbladder."
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... |
NEEMO
7, Day 2
Bob Thirsk | "I
am so tired that all I can think about is getting to bed. Nevertheless I had another
great day on the Aquarius undersea habitat."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Day 2
Mike Barratt | "I
would have to say that I slept better last night than the last several, and perhaps
for the last several years. This place does not exactly rock you to sleep, but
I am happily imaging that it does awaken some primal memories."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Day 3
Mike Barratt | "Cady
and I got a start on constructing the infamous Waterlab today, the PVC monstrosity
that teaches us teamwork, ingenuity, and patience."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Day 3
Topside Team | "For
NASA, exploration is focused on getting us back to the Moon and on to Mars. We
have been trying to educate ourselves on what would really be entailed upon taking
up residence on a new planet."
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NEEMO
7, Day 4
Topside Team | "As
part of our exploration challenge, we are evaluating some different robots on
this mission. You might think that ... finding commercial robots that work underwater
would be nearly impossible."
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NEEMO
7, Day 4
Mike Barratt | "This
morning we were witness to an incredible show when a small fleet of yellow tail
jacks herded and surrounded a swarm of three-inch silver baitfish right outside
our window..."
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NEEMO
7, Day 5
Mike Barratt | "Our
work was occasionally interrupted by the flashes of lightning from a storm overhead,
a perspective I had certainly never seen before."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Days 5-7
Topside Team | "Today
our Aquanauts got to try something a little different: driving a remotely operated
rover across the sea floor."
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NEEMO
7, Day 5
Bob Thirsk | "Each
day I do many things aboard Aquarius that I have not previously experienced in
my professional career."
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NEEMO
7, Day 6
Mike Barratt | "There
was a faint lunar glow breaking the surface as we made our way outbound along
the excursion line and watched the habitat lights fade into the blackness behind
us."
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NEEMO
7, Day 7
Mike Barratt | "Everyone
brings a unique outlook and set of skills to the table. We watch out for one another
and each in their own fashion navigates the controlled chaos of the day in concert
with the team."
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NEEMO
7, Day 8
Bob Thirsk | "The
NEEMO 7 mission experienced one more hardware malfunction. Today one of the hand
controllers for the Robo experiment misbehaved."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Day 9
Bob Thirsk | "Whew!
This was our busiest and most hectic day of the mission. Medical science and robotic
skill evaluations dominated the day.."
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NEEMO
7, Day 9
Topside Team | "One
of the things we who work on the NEEMO team take great pride in is the dedication
with which we support educational outreach."
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more ... |
NEEMO
7, Day 10
Topside Team | "We
have had a very successful and rewarding mission, and have demonstrated that tele-mentored
and tele-robotic surgery can be accomplished even in some of the most extreme
environments on earth."
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NEEMO
7, Day 11
Topside Team | "The NEEMO
7 mission ended this morning on a gorgeous, sunny Florida day.
The crew finished deco and were guided slowly to the surface
by a pair of safety divers."
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