[meteorite-list] Engineering Tests Leading The Way For NASA's Next Neemo Mission

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 13:07:01 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201105092007.p49K71uV013080_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

May 09, 2011

J.D. Harrington/Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241/1979
j.d.harrington at nasa.gov/michael.j.braukus at nasa.gov

Brandi Dean
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-244-1403
brandi.k.dean at nasa.gov

RELEASE: 11-141

ENGINEERING TESTS LEADING THE WAY FOR NASA'S NEXT NEEMO MISSION

HOUSTON -- To determine how best to explore asteroids in the future,
NASA scientists and engineers are taking their experiments underwater
in the 15th expedition of NASA Extreme Environment Mission
Operations, or NEEMO.

This year's NEEMO expedition, which will include the usual compliment
of astronauts and engineers, is slated for October. Since this is the
first mission to simulate a trip to an asteroid, there's a lot of
work to do before the mission can start. To prepare, engineers have
journeyed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
Aquarius Underwater Laboratory near Key Largo, Fla., to work through
some of the concepts that will be tested in the fall.

"Even experts don't know what the surface of an asteroid is going to
be like," said NEEMO Project Manager Bill Todd. "There may be
asteroids that we don't even know about yet that we'll be visiting.
So we're figuring out the best way to do that."

NEEMO 15 will investigate three aspects of a mission to an asteroid:
how to anchor to the surface; how to move around; and how best to
collect data. Unlike the moon or Mars, an asteroid would have little,
if any, gravity to hold astronauts or vehicles, so an anchor would be
necessary. NEEMO 15 will evaluate different anchoring methods and how
to connect the multiple anchors to form pathways. The aquanauts and
engineers will study whether it's more efficient to join the anchors
in a straight line or set them up similar to the spokes of a wagon
wheel.

Starting Tuesday, May 10, engineers and scientists will begin work to
ensure they're prepared for rigorous testing of these concepts in
October. During these preliminary tests, they will work on the ocean
floor, but will not stay inside the Aquarius. This allows
participants to come to the surface and retool equipment if
necessary.

For more information on NEEMO, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/neemo

For more information on NASA analogs, missions that simulate
conditions on other planetary bodies, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/
        
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Received on Mon 09 May 2011 04:07:01 PM PDT