Research in Support of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 19 Mission
Victoria C. Barkley, Ashley Hollis-Bussey, Carolyn E. Newton, Holly Abernethy, and Jason P. Kring
In September 2014, over 25 students from multiple departments at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) participated in the 19th mission of NASA’s Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) program. During the mission, astronauts from NASA, Canada, and Europe lived and worked underwater inside the Aquarius facility in the Florida Keys. As an enclosed environment, about the size of a school bus, and deployed 60 feet beneath the surface, Aquarius is an excellent analog of the isolation and confinement astronauts experience aboard the International Space Station or, one day, a vehicle destined for Mars.
ERAU students were involved in 3 key projects that occurred during the NEEMO 19 mission. First, engineering students, working with the company Teledyne Oil & Gas, helped design, build, and then deploy a structure for underwater testing of electronic and power cables called the Collaborative Oceanic Reliability Analysis Lab (CORAL). Second, math students conducted tests of navigation and operational capabilities for an underwater autonomous vehicle called “Eco-Dolphin.” Third, human factors and commercial space operations students observed NEEMO mission operations and gained familiarity with communication, scheduling, and coordination during space missions.
The endeavor was a successful example of cooperation between academia, industry, and government with ERAU, Teledyne, and NASA students and personnel working together on the three projects. Plans are already underway for an expanded series of projects for the NEEMO 20 mission slated for July of 2015.