Craig is temporarily a post-doctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who is looking for a permanent position. He spends most of his time balancing his overwhelming geekdom with normalcy so he can function in the real world. Luckily his wife likes his geekiness.
Peter Etnoyer is a Graduate Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He studies deep corals and ocean fronts, and he loves to be on the water.
Kevin Zelnio is a Graduate Student Researcher at Penn State studying the ecology of hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. He raises awareness of the plight of the spineless through folk music.
Image above: NEEMO 11 crew member works near the undersea habitat "Aquarius" during a session of extravehicular activity for the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) project. Image credit: NASA
Nemo is some cute cuddly fish for children and Disney wallets. NEEMO on the other hand although also based in Florida is much better. NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations project sends groups of NASA employees and contractors to live in Aquarius, an undersea laboratory 62 feet down off Key Largo owned by NOAA, for up to three weeks at a time. Aquarius provides a platform to train people to meet the challenges of isolation, logistics, and exploration similar to those experienced in space exploration. Aquarius is also approximately the same size as the International Space Station.
NEEMO already has 12 expeditions you can read about. The next one, lucky 13, starts on August 6 lasting to the 15th. NASA will send three astronauts and a Constellation Program aerospace engineer into the ocean depths to test lunar exploration concepts and a suite of medical objectives for long-duration spaceflight. "This autonomous mode of operation will encourage the crew to make real-time decisions about daily operations similar to what we think will be necessary for lunar and Mars missions. The idea is to show how procedures and training for future missions can be adapted, considering the reduced direct communication with mission control those crews will encounter," Todd said.
