Blue Abyss is a research pool planned for construction in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It will be deep with volume of approximately , making it the world's second deepest pool after the

Deep Dive Dubai Deep Dive Dubai is a deep diving pool in Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the Un ...

. 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 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 robotic spacec ...

, human life science, and

submersibles 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 ind ...

. 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 human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

training centre *

Hypobaric A hypobaric chamber, or altitude chamber, is a chamber used during aerospace or high terrestrial altitude research or training to simulate the effects of high altitude on the human body, especially hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypobaria (low ambien ...

and

hyperbaric Hyperbaric medicine is medical treatment in which an ambient pressure greater than sea level atmospheric pressure is a necessary component. The treatment comprises hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), the medical use of oxygen at an ambient pressure ...

chambers *

Microgravity The term micro-g environment (also μg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous with the terms ''weightlessness'' and ''zero-g'', but emphasising that g-forces are never exactly zero—just very small (on the I ...

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 and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics ...

research,

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, and

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

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 converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

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 train astronauts for extravehicular activity and the development of procedures. These pools began to be used in the 1960s and were initially ...

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 NAS ...

and

centrifuge A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby separating fluids of different densities (e.g. cream from milk) or ...

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 structure of a human being. It is composed of many different types of cells that together create tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the viability of the human body. It comprises a head ...

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. A ...

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