Aug 03
Every American knows the names Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. At the dawn of the space age, another frontier was under exploration, too—although it never had the fanfare or funding that the astronauts received. More »
Jul 24
It was just another day for the Aquanauts exploring the warm, crystal waters of Conch Reef when a storm hit. The divers registered the 10-degree temperature drop on their skin a moment after the visibility went from 60 feet down to a dozen. More »
Jul 19
How NASA Uses the Ocean to Train Astronauts for its Most Dangerous Missions [Video]
Posted in: Today's Chili
The astronauts are wearing white suits with American flags and mission patches on them. They’re aware but unworried about the hostile environment inches away from their noses. They’d be dead in seconds if it were not for their air supply. As they bound nimbly along in a state of near-weightlessness, all each astronaut can hear is breathing. More »
Jul 18
There Is No Such Thing as Normal When You Live at the Bottom of the Sea [Mission Aquarius]
Posted in: Today's Chili
The Aquanauts had killed the power and strapped on their emergency air masks. Someone smelled burning. In a rich-oxygen environment like Aquarius, fires can spread with ferocity; any hint of combustion is taken with utter seriousness. The air wasn’t circulating as it was supposed to, and, up above, the life support buoy sounded like it was going to explode. Instead of a steady, even hum, the generator sounded like something between a between a bark and like it was gagging. More »
Jul 18
Jul 17
Once, in the middle of a storm, while everyone was asleep in the undersea base, the fuel that’s stored in the life support buoy sloshed around enough to stop one of the two generators. The generators power the air supply compressor that keeps everyone in the Aquarius undersea base alive. So what do the Aquanauts have to do if the air quality is at risk? Nothing. The Watch Desk is always watching. More »
Jul 17
You think carrying your grocery and laundry into your 5th-floor walkup is a pain in the ass? Try bringing that stuff into an undersea base without it getting soaked. How do you do it? The answer is surprisingly low-tech: pressure pots. More »
Jul 16
You can see it from the surface of the water: a blue outline 50 feet down. Aquarius. The last undersea base. Diving down to it is like falling slowly into another world. More »
Jul 14
How to Become an Aquanaut [Video]
Posted in: Today's Chili
So, you want to become an aquanaut? Do you have the right stuff? What is the right stuff? Do you even know what an Aquanaut is? More »
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