Aquarius Underwater Research Center - Mississippi-Offshore.com

Aquarius Undersea Laboratory Wraps Up 2005 Mission Year with U.S. Navy Diving Projects

The 2005 hurricane season will be remembered throughout the south for the damage and disruption inflicted upon millions, but it’s fair to say that the Aquarius underwater laboratory staff saw the wrath of the storms from a unique perspective � underwater. Aquarius survived the storms and ends the 2005 field season with a partnership project to help train US Navy saturation divers and develop new tools for scientific diving. Aquarius is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operated by the NOAA Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (NURC/UNCW). The habitat is located in sixty feet of water, 8 miles south of mission control in Key Largo. It is currently the only underwater laboratory operating in the world’s oceans.

It’s hard to imagine the underwater forces generated by 30 foot waves in 60 feet of water � thousands of tons of water are tossed as easily as a baby splashes water in a bathtub. Docks were battered, homes flooded, the 500 foot wreck of the Spiegel Grove was lifted from its sideways resting position to full upright status, and meters of sediments were moved around on the reef exposing coral skeletons buried for thousands of years. Aquarius also suffered damage but was repaired quickly to complete the 2005 mission year. Upon reaching Aquarius after the storms, Aquarius Manager, Jim Buckley, noted, "she had the look of a winning prize fighter who took a few licks but came out on top."

Hurricane Rita did more damage than Katrina or Wilma. "As Hurricane Rita passed south of the Keys as a Category I Storm, its wave heights reached nearly 30 feet off Key Largo. This type of surge has been known to tear shipwrecks in two and scatter them hundreds of feet across the bottom of the ocean," said Craig Cooper, Operations Director for Aquarius. He added, "The surge and constant wind–driven currents from the east–southeast shifted Aquarius approximately ten feet, broke a pin to one of the legs, and threatened to tip the habitat over. Additionally, hold down anchors were pried from the seafloor, and exterior deck frames, battery pods, and other structures were damaged or torn loose." A tiger team of U.S. Navy Seabee divers from Underwater Construction Teams (UCT) 1 and 2, divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage (MDSU 2), and NURC/UNCW divers collaborated in the many tasks associated with stabilizing and restoring the underwater habitat in record time. Their efforts paid off � Aquarius survived Hurricane Wilma without any damage, despite a direct hit on the Florida Keys. LT CDR Tim Liberatore, UCT 2 Commanding Officer stated that "the UCTs are perfectly suited for this type of work, stabilizing the Aquarius was a great opportunity to do real world engineering on an underwater structure."

Aquarius is a national asset that supports scientists, researchers, and astronauts in their efforts to better understand the oceans, coastal resources, and the ability to conduct work operations in a difficult, remote, and potentially dangerous environment. Science projects conducted from Aquarius are contributing knowledge and discoveries that help managers better understand and conserve coral reef resources in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Important results include studies related to nutrients and pollution, monitoring deep reef conditions, coral feeding biology, dynamics of seaweed populations, and in the most recent mission this past November, acoustic fish tracking studies of black grouper and other species.

The goals of the December Navy projects are to furnish United States Navy Diving saturation school graduates an opportunity to work with Aquarius in a setting that simulates saturation diving procedures related to the Navy’s use of a "flyaway saturation system." Two back–to–back five day missions will each include five Navy divers with one NURC/UNCW habitat technician, NURC Diving Safety Officer (DSO) Roger Garcia, a former Navy diver himself. Excursions from the habitat will involve typical "surface supplied" umbilical diving with "hard hat" helmets, with the wet porch serving as an analog to a saturation diving bell. Tasks will benefit NOAA’s habitat program and include inspections of the habitat exterior structures and baseplate, further installation of baseplate stabilization/hurricane seabed anchors, and general maintenance prior to the off–mission season.

For more information, contact Otto Rutten, Associate Director or Craig Cooper, Operations Director, NURC/UNCW at (305) 451–0233.

Aquarius Undersea Laboratory Wraps Up 2005 Mission Year with U.S. Navy Diving Projects

The 2005 hurricane season will be remembered throughout the south for the damage and disruption inflicted upon millions, but it’s fair to say that the Aquarius underwater laboratory staff saw the wrath of the storms from a unique perspective � underwater. Aquarius survived the storms and ends the 2005 field season with a partnership project to help train US Navy saturation divers and develop new tools for scientific diving. Aquarius is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operated by the NOAA Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (NURC/UNCW). The habitat is located in sixty feet of water, 8 miles south of mission control in Key Largo. It is currently the only underwater laboratory operating in the world’s oceans.

It’s hard to imagine the underwater forces generated by 30 foot waves in 60 feet of water � thousands of tons of water are tossed as easily as a baby splashes water in a bathtub. Docks were battered, homes flooded, the 500 foot wreck of the Spiegel Grove was lifted from its sideways resting position to full upright status, and meters of sediments were moved around on the reef exposing coral skeletons buried for thousands of years. Aquarius also suffered damage but was repaired quickly to complete the 2005 mission year. Upon reaching Aquarius after the storms, Aquarius Manager, Jim Buckley, noted, "she had the look of a winning prize fighter who took a few licks but came out on top."

Hurricane Rita did more damage than Katrina or Wilma. "As Hurricane Rita passed south of the Keys as a Category I Storm, its wave heights reached nearly 30 feet off Key Largo. This type of surge has been known to tear shipwrecks in two and scatter them hundreds of feet across the bottom of the ocean," said Craig Cooper, Operations Director for Aquarius. He added, "The surge and constant wind–driven currents from the east–southeast shifted Aquarius approximately ten feet, broke a pin to one of the legs, and threatened to tip the habitat over. Additionally, hold down anchors were pried from the seafloor, and exterior deck frames, battery pods, and other structures were damaged or torn loose." A tiger team of U.S. Navy Seabee divers from Underwater Construction Teams (UCT) 1 and 2, divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage (MDSU 2), and NURC/UNCW divers collaborated in the many tasks associated with stabilizing and restoring the underwater habitat in record time. Their efforts paid off � Aquarius survived Hurricane Wilma without any damage, despite a direct hit on the Florida Keys. LT CDR Tim Liberatore, UCT 2 Commanding Officer stated that "the UCTs are perfectly suited for this type of work, stabilizing the Aquarius was a great opportunity to do real world engineering on an underwater structure."

Aquarius is a national asset that supports scientists, researchers, and astronauts in their efforts to better understand the oceans, coastal resources, and the ability to conduct work operations in a difficult, remote, and potentially dangerous environment. Science projects conducted from Aquarius are contributing knowledge and discoveries that help managers better understand and conserve coral reef resources in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Important results include studies related to nutrients and pollution, monitoring deep reef conditions, coral feeding biology, dynamics of seaweed populations, and in the most recent mission this past November, acoustic fish tracking studies of black grouper and other species.

The goals of the December Navy projects are to furnish United States Navy Diving saturation school graduates an opportunity to work with Aquarius in a setting that simulates saturation diving procedures related to the Navy’s use of a "flyaway saturation system." Two back–to–back five day missions will each include five Navy divers with one NURC/UNCW habitat technician, NURC Diving Safety Officer (DSO) Roger Garcia, a former Navy diver himself. Excursions from the habitat will involve typical "surface supplied" umbilical diving with "hard hat" helmets, with the wet porch serving as an analog to a saturation diving bell. Tasks will benefit NOAA’s habitat program and include inspections of the habitat exterior structures and baseplate, further installation of baseplate stabilization/hurricane seabed anchors, and general maintenance prior to the off–mission season.

Lionfish adopt home away from home in Atlantic

FORT FISHER | When officials with the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher needed some lionfish for the facility?s new ?Exotic Aquatics? exhibit, they didn?t have far to go.

But catching specimens just 35 miles off Bald Head Island is a major problem because the poisonous but stunningly beautiful fish isn?t supposed to be found off North Carolina ? or anywhere in the Atlantic.

?We were amazed how many we saw,? said aquarium curator Hap Fatzinger, who was one of the divers on the collection mission this summer. ?We were hoping for two or three.

UNDERWATER BREATHING APPARATUS EX14

The Underwater Breathing Apparatus EX14 is a saturation diving system developed by the US Navy to assist in submarine rescue and perform salvage operations to depths of 850 feet. The system includes an umbilical that supplies breathing gas, a helmet, communications, a thermal protection suit, and an emergency come-home backpack.

The US Navy pioneered saturation diving with the Sealab Program, and on the IX501 Elk River. Auxiliary submarine rescue ships USS Pigeon (ASR 21) and USS Ortolan (ASR 22) were developed to support this type of diving, in which divers were transported to the worksite in a Personnel Transfer Chamber (PTC), and then exited in diving gear. The PTC transported the divers back to a pressurized habitat on board ship for rest. Dives could be repeated over many days to complete a mission, with a single decompression at the end. The Pigeon and Ortolan have since been decommissioned. The Navy is evaluating new approaches to meet saturation diving needs, and is open to other applications for the EX14.

An EX14 dive from the NOAA Aquarius habitat is an excellent analog to extravehicular activity in space. The discipline and teamwork required to execute a dive, the helmet fixed to the torso, helmet gas flow, communications, and suit dexterity provide realistic training for astronauts during NASA Extreme Environment Missions Operations (NEEMO). The EX14 has been made available to NASA for NEEMO missions through a cooperative agreement between the NOAA Undersea Research Center, University of North Carolina

UNDERSEA HABITAT BECOMES EXPERIMENTAL HOSPITAL FOR NEEMO 7

The days of doctors making house calls may seem like ancient history for most patients in North America, but in October, three astronauts and a Canadian doctor will test the latest concepts in long-distance house calls using a unique underwater laboratory.

The ability to conduct long-distance health care such as telemonitoring and telerobotic surgery could be key to maintaining the wellness of future spacefarers and responding to medical emergencies on the International Space Station, the moon or Mars. Techniques will be tested on a simulated patient during the upcoming seventh mission of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) project.

Canadian Astronaut Dave Williams will lead a crew on the 10-day undersea mission October 11-20 aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Aquarius Underwater Laboratory, located off the coast of Key Largo, Fla.

"Astronauts navigating between planets won't be able to turn around and come home when someone gets sick, and this undersea mission will help chart a course for long-distance healing," said NEEMO Project Manager Bill Todd. "Aquarius, with its physical and psychological isolation on the floor of the Atlantic, will provide the real stresses needed to validate telemedicine in an extreme environment," he added

NASA Astronauts Mike Barratt and Cady Coleman, as well as Dr. Craig McKinley of the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Ontario, will join Williams in the experiment. Williams, Barratt, and McKinley are physicians. Air Force Lt. Col. Coleman holds a Ph.D. in engineering. Two other engineers, James Talacek and Ross Hein of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, will work side-by-side with the crew in Aquarius.

According to Dr. Mehran Anvari, director of the McMaster University Centre for Minimal Access Surgery at St. Joseph's Healthcare, NEEMO 7 will demonstrate and evaluate innovative technologies and procedures for remote surgery. Anvari, who will be based in Hamilton during the mission, will use two-way telecommunication links to guide the aquanauts through diagnosis and surgery on a mock patient inside Aquarius. Another simulation will involve virtual reality control technology to guide telerobotic surgery on the mock patient.

Similar in size to the International Space Station's living quarters, Aquarius is the world's only permanent underwater habitat and research laboratory. The 45-foot long, 13-foot diameter complex is three miles off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It rests about 62 feet beneath the surface. A buoy on the surface provides power, life support and communications capabilities for Aquarius. A shore-based mission control for the Aquarius laboratory in Florida and a control room at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, known as the Exploration Planning Operations Center, will monitor the crew's activities.

Aquarius is owned by NOAA, operated by University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and funded by NOAA's Undersea Research Program. The NEEMO missions are a cooperative project between NASA, NOAA and the University.

Reporters interested in interviewing the NEEMO 7 crewmembers during their mission should contact the JSC newsroom at 281/483-5111.

For additional information about the NEEMO project on the Internet, visit:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/training/neemo/neemo7/

For additional information about Aquarius on the Internet, visit:

http://www.uncw.edu/aquarius/