NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, is a NASA

analog mission Human analog missions are activities undertaken on Earth in various environments to simulate aspects of human missions to other worlds, including the Moon, asteroids, and Mars. These remote field tests are performed in locations that are identifie ...

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 robotic spacec ...

. Aquarius is an underwater habitat 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 "lon ...

, 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. 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 (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, ce ...

(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 classifies s ...

study base. Since 2013, Aquarius is owned by Florida International University (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 William Laurence Todd is a Project Manager for Exploration Analogs at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. He has also served as a NASA Undersea Research Team Project Lead and Spaceflight Training Simulation Supervisor at NASA JSC ...

, 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 * Dafydd Williams,

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

NURC Support Crew: * Mark Hulsbeck *

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 elector ...

NEEMO 2: May 13–20, 2002

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Michael Fincke, Commander * Daniel M. Tani * Sunita Williams * Marc Reagan 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-13 ...

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 hour ...

Jessica Meir Jessica Ulrika Meir (IPA: ; ; born ) is an American-Swedish NASA astronaut, marine biologist, and physiologist. She was previously an assistant professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, following ...

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, 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 me ...

Emma Hwang Emma Y. Hwang (born Yu-liang Hwang on July 21, 1970) is a scientist with Wyle Laboratories. She served as an aquanaut on the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations 5 ( NEEMO 5) crew in June 2003. Early life Yu-liang Hwang was born in southe ...

NURC Support Crew: *

NEEMO 6: July 12–21, 2004

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * John Herrington, Commander * Nicholas Patrick *

Douglas H. Wheelock Douglas Harry "Wheels" Wheelock (born May 5, 1960) is an American engineer and astronaut. He has flown in space twice, logging 178 days on the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and Russian Soyuz. On July 12, 2011, Wheelock announced ...

Tara Ruttley Tara Melaine Ruttley (born 1975/1976) is Associate Chief Scientist for Microgravity Research at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Prior to this, she was Associate Program Scientist for the International Space Station (ISS) at NASA's Johnson Spa ...

NURC Support Crew: * Craig B. Cooper *Joseph March * Marc Reagan, Mission Director

NEEMO 7: October 11–21, 2004

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Robert Thirsk, Commander * Catherine Coleman *

Michael R. Barratt Michael Reed Barratt (born April 16, 1959) is an American physician and a NASA astronaut. Specializing in aerospace medicine, he served as a flight surgeon for NASA before his selection as an astronaut, and has played a role in developing NASA ...

* Craig McKinley NURC Support Crew: *

* Billy Cooksey *

, Mission Director

NEEMO 8: April 20–22, 2005

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

, Commander *

* Scott Kelly *Monika Schultz NURC Support Crew: * Craig B. Cooper *Joseph March *

, Mission Director

NEEMO 9: April 3–20, 2006

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Dafydd Williams, Commander *

Nicole P. Stott Nicole Marie Passonno Stott (born November 19, 1962) is an American engineer and a retired NASA astronaut. She served as a Flight Engineer on ISS Expedition 20 and Expedition 21 and was a Mission Specialist on STS-128 and STS-133. After 27 yea ...

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 Air Force, becoming a Second Lieutenant in 1984. He became an F-16 pilot, an ...

Timothy J. Broderick Timothy J. Broderick, F.A.C.S., is Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, where he has served on the faculty since 2003. He also serves as Chief of the Division of Gastrointestinal and Endocrine Surgery a ...

, M.D. NURC Support Crew: *

James F. Buckley James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambigua ...

*Ross Hein * Marc Reagan, 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 has ...

, Commander *

Andrew Feustel Andrew Jay "Drew" Feustel (; born August 25, 1965) is an American/Canadian NASA astronaut and geophysicist. Following several years working as a geophysicist, Feustel was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in July 2000. He is the veteran ...

Karen L. Nyberg Karen LuJean Nyberg (born October 7, 1969) is an American mechanical engineer and retired NASA astronaut. Nyberg became the 50th woman in space on her first mission in 2008. Nyberg started her space career in 1991 and spent a total of 180 days ...

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: * Mark Hulsbeck *

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 unders ...

* Marc Reagan, Mission Director

NEEMO 11: September 16–22, 2006

NASA Aquanaut Crew: * Sandra Magnus, 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 Robert Louis Behnken (; born July 28, 1970, in St. Ann, Missouri) is a NASA astronaut, engineer, and former Chief of the Astronaut Office. Behnken holds a Ph.D in mechanical engineering and the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force, where he ...

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 mar ...

NURC Support Crew: *Larry Ward *Roger Garcia * Marc Reagan, 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 in the United States Navy. She is also a qualified and experienced salvage officer. Her ...

, Commander * José M. Hernández * Josef Schmid, M.D. *

, M.D. NURC Support Crew: *

* Marc Reagan, Mission Director

NEEMO 13: August 6–15, 2007

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

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 exploratio ...

NURC Support Crew: *

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

* Marc Reagan, 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 serv ...

, Commander *

Thomas H. Marshburn Thomas Henry Marshburn (born August 29, 1960) is an American physician and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three spaceflights to the International Space Station and holds the record for the oldest person to perform a spacewalk at 61 years ol ...

* 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 defin ...

Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

*Nate Bender *

, Mission Director

NEEMO 15: October 20–26, 2011

NASA Aquanaut Crew: *

Shannon Walker Shannon Walker (born June 4, 1965) is an American physicist and a NASA astronaut selected in 2004. She launched on her first mission into space on June 25, 2010, onboard Soyuz TMA-19 and spent over 163 days in space. She returned to space for ...

, Commander * Takuya Onishi * David Saint-Jacques * Steve Squyres Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

*Nate Bender

DeepWorker 2000 DeepWorker 2000 is a submarine vehicle developed by Nuytco Research, Ltd. It is capable of descending to a depth of 610 m (2001 ft) and remaining submerged for 12 hours. In 1999, it was deployed to the continental shelf and upper conti ...

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 ind ...

crew: *

Stanley G. Love Stanley Glen Love (born June 8, 1965) is an American scientist and a NASA astronaut from Oregon.{{{cite web, url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/love.pdf , title=Stanley G. Love, (Ph.D.) NASA Astronaut , publisher=NASA , acces ...

* Richard R. Arnold *

NEEMO 16: June 11–22, 2012

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

Timothy Peake Major Timothy Nigel Peake (born 7 April 1972) is a British Army Air Corps officer, European Space Agency astronaut and a former International Space Station (ISS) crew member. He is the first British ESA astronaut, the second astronaut to bear ...

* Steve Squyres Aquarius Reef Base support crew: *

* Justin Brown

crew: *

Steve Giddings ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Stev ...

Serena M. Auñón Serena most commonly refers to: * Serena Williams (born 1981), professional tennis player Serena may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Serena (genre), 13th-century Occitan poetic genre * ''Serena'' (1962 film), a British crime th ...

* 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 autho ...

* Andreas Mogensen * Soichi Noguchi Aquarius Reef Base support crew: * Mark Hulsbeck *

Otto Rutten Otto is a masculine German given name and a Otto (surname), surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name ...

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 Jeanette Jo Epps (born November 3, 1970) is an American aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut. Epps received both her M. S. and Ph.D degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, where she was part of the rotor-craft research ...

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, Commander * Andreas Mogensen, Flight Engineer 1 * Jeremy Hansen, Flight Engineer 2 * Hervé Stevenin, Flight Engineer 3 Aquarius Reef Base support crew: * Mark Hulsbeck * Ryan LaPete

NEEMO 20: July 20 – August 2, 2015

NASA Aquanaut Crew: NASA NEEMO 20 Aquanaut Crew

* Luca Parmitano, ESA, commander *

, 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 orb ...

Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew: * Mark Hulsbeck (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 Gregory Reid Wiseman (born November 11, 1975) is an American astronaut, engineer, and naval aviator. He served as Chief of the Astronaut Office until November 14, 2022. Wiseman was selected in June 2009 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 2 ...

, 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 has fl ...

, 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 ...

, 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 Kjell Norwood Lindgren (born January 23, 1973) is an American astronaut who was selected in June 2009 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 20. He launched to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Expedition 44/ 45 on July 22, 201 ...

, NASA, Commander * Pedro Duque, ESA * Trevor Graff, NASA/Jacobs * Dominic D'Agostino, USF Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew: * Mark Hulsbeck (FIU) * Sean Moore (FIU)

NEEMO 23: June 10–22, 2019

NASA all-female Aquanaut Crew: * Samantha Cristoforetti, 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 missi ...

, 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: * Mark Hulsbeck (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