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Steven Squyres of Cornell University and scientific principal investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover Project, will join James Talacek and Nate Bender of the University of North Carolina, Wilmington \u2013 who are both professional aquanauts.<\/p>\n
NASA astronauts Stan Love, Richard Arnold and Mike Gernhardt, all veteran spacewalkers, will participate in the NEEMO mission from the DeepWorker submersible, which they will pilot.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/A1110A1.jpg\" "\\"A1110A\\"")
The DeepWorker is a small submarine used as an underwater stand-in for the Multi Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV), which is currently the leading concept to be the main NEO exploration vehicle on site at the asteroid, utilizing its robotic arms and crew airlock.<\/p>\nThese submarines arrived at the Key Largo local via the Liberty Star, one of the ships which was tasked with recovering the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) from the Atlantic after a shuttle launch.<\/p>\n
Rocket building kits
<\/path>Space Shuttle <\/path>Space Shuttle models <\/path>\n (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n
All elements of the underwater mission will mirror what is currently planned for a deep space mission, involving the Space Launch System (SLS) superior lift capability to loft any of all of the hardware into orbit, the Orion (MPCV) crew vehicle (x2), the MMSEV, and a Deep Space Hab (DSH).<\/p>\n
The DSH is a required element of the mission, as the crew will expect \u2013 at least via the \u201cFlexible Path\u201d NEO mission examples \u2013 to spend half a year in space, of which around 14 days will be spent conducting the mission goals at the asteroid.<\/p>\n
Also see NASASpaceflight.com\u2019s Flexible Path Review:
\nPart 1: Battle of the Heavy Lift Launchers \u2013 Monster 200mt vehicle noted
\nPart 2: Manned mission to construct huge GEO and deep space telescopes proposed
\nPart 3: NASA Flexible Path Evaluation of 2025 human mission to visit an asteriod
\nPart 4: Taking Aim on Phobos \u2013 NASA outline Flexible Path precursor to Man on Mars<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/A36.jpg\" "\\"A36\\"")
With NASA\u2019s Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) involved in simulating their role of \u201cPlan, Train, Fly\u201d (PTF) \u2013 which starts with mission outline planning, right through to working the mission proper \u2013 a graphical representation of the deep space mission was made available via their outline presentations (L2).<\/p>\nMission scenarios are portrayed in graphics showing a spacewalker using a grid of \u201cexcursion lines\u201d, accompanied by the MMSEV, whilst an Orion loiters in close proximity, itself attached to a DSH module and a second Orion.<\/p>\n
NEEMO 15 will work on three major elements of a NEO mission, such as how to anchor to the surface via the \u201cexcursion lines\u201d; how to move around; and how best to collect data.<\/p>\n
This will allow for the evaluation of different anchoring methods and how to connect the multiple anchors to form pathways. The aquanauts and engineers will evaluate different strategies for deploying instruments and moving along a surface without gravity.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/A48.jpg\" "\\"A48\\"")
Per MOD documentation, four asteroid mission scenarios are being studied at a planning level, listed as Condition 4 through 7, opening with three crewmembers heading out into deep space \u2013 one remaining in the Deep Space Hab (DSH), while the remaining two conduct an EVA on the NEO, prior to moving up to the involvement of a MMSEV hosting the two crewmembers excursion to the asteroid\u2019s surface.<\/p>\nThe Condition 6 and 7 mission profiles are based on a crew of four, with one scenario seeing three crewmembers work inside the SEV at the asteroid, whilst one remains in the DSH. The other scenario involves all four crewmembers heading to the asteroid, in two SEVs.<\/p>\n
While the underwater environment provides the nearest training scenario possible \u2013 with deep coral reefs 19 meters below the surface \u2013 enforced simulation scenarios will include the expected delay in real-time communications between the crew in deep space and Mission Control.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/B15.jpg\" "\\"B1\\"")
NEEMO\u2019s mission includes a remote Mission Control Centers (MCC) \u2013 established both in Key Largo and building 30 room 211 at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) \u2013 which will exercise time delay communication protocols, along with advanced planning and timeline development tools.<\/p>\nThe remote MCC is the same equipment trailer as that being used for NASA\u2019s Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) and the international Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) simulations, which are also focused on NEO training, along with Mars surface missions.<\/p>\n
Jeremy Hansen and Jeanette Epps, members of the 2009 astronaut class, are the capsule communicators for the mission. Hansen is from the Canadian Space Agency, and Epps from NASA.<\/p>\n
\u201cNEEMO 15 will require complex choreography between the submarines and aquanauts living and working in their undersea home,\u201d said Bill Todd, NEEMO project manager.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/A811.jpg\" "\\"A811\\"")
\u201cResearching the challenges of exploring an asteroid surface in the undersea realm will be exciting for fans of exploration pioneers Cousteau and Armstrong alike.\u201d<\/p>\nWhile SLS and Orion mission architecture remains under design at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) \u2013 which may now include more of an initial interest in the Moon \u2013 NASA\u2019s overall plan continues to note a mid 2020s mission to a NEO, which would provide deep space evaluation of the hardware ahead of an eventual mission to Mars or one of its moons \u2013 such as Phobos.<\/p>\n
The NEO mission will involve humans travelling further into space than ever before.<\/p>\n
(Images: L2 Content, NASA, NEEMO)<\/p>\n
(As the shuttle fleet retire, NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS\/CRS\/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles.)<\/p>\n
(Click here to join L2: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/l2\/ )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
October\u2019s NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission, based at the Aquarius underwater habitat in Key Largo, Florida, is set to begin this week \u2013 weather permitting. The 13 day mission will conduct an underwater simulation of protocols which may become part of a crewed mission to a Near Earth Object (NEO). NEEMO: The mission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[567,9034,7873,640,9161,624],"class_list":["post-40300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-eva","tag-hlv","tag-neo","tag-orion","tag-sev","tag-sls"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}