Two Artemis II Astronauts Trained at FIU Aquarius Habitat in Keys

By Karen Curtis

(Key Largo, Fl) - Florida International University's Institute of Environment helped train two of the astronauts taking part in today's Artemis II moon mission.

Operations director of the FIU Aquarius habitat off Key Largo, Henry Stark, says astronauts Commander Reid Wiseman and Canadian Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen both trained as aquanauts at the facility. Now the astronauts are about to experience the real thing.

US-SPACE-UNDERWATER TRAINING HABITAT 4

This undated file image obtained 02 July, 2003 courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington shows the Aquarius underwater habitat. NASA, the (NOAA) and the University of National Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW), are conducting astronaut training on Aquarius located off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) program is designed to prepare astronauts for the physical and mental demands of working in space. AFP PHOTO/ NOAA / UNC Wilmington (Photo by NASA / NASA / AFP) (Photo by NASA/NASA/AFP via Getty Images)Photo: NASA / AFP / Getty Images

The aquanauts, who live underwater at depth pressure for more than 24 continuous hours without returning to the surface, experience challenges similar to those on a distant asteroid, planet, or moon.

Stark, says the habitat is part of NASA's extreme environment mission operations or NEEMO which allows the agency to test spacewalk techniques and other technologies in a controlled environment.

Stark says he saturated with Commander Reid Wiseman for 8 days in 2016 to simulate space exploration conditions. The Aquarius Reef Base is four miles off Key Largo and serves as the world's only underwater research station.

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