Table of Contents

Neemo 7

NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations

Commander Robert Thirsk's Journal

Day 5 – October 15, 2004

It is difficult to single out just one event to highlight in my daily journal. Each day I do many things aboard Aquarius that I have not previously experienced in my professional career. Today was no exception. I could write about our Waterlab construction project or I could write about the medical science that we have been performing inside the habitat.

But I would like most to focus on our visitor Inuktun, a small robot. Inuktun is a VGTV or variable geometry tracked vehicle. It looks a bit like Star Wars' R2D2 but with a treaded track and the ability to change shape to facilitate movement around obstacles. Inuktun has many uses including surveillance and pipeline inspections. It also helped in the post- September 11 search and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site. And Inuktun is waterproof which means that it can work on the ocean floor. The Inuktun system was "podded" down to Aquarius early today. The entire system consists of the robot as well as a control unit, a laptop computer, and long umbilical.

In mid-afternoon, Whitney Holling, an engineer with American Standard Robotics, dove down to Aquarius to brief us on the operation of the robot. To avoid the risk of decompression sickness (known as "the bends"), Whitney could stay only one hour aboard Aquarius. In that time she needed to power up and check out the robot, and then train us on its operation.

Prior to Whitney's arrival, we had connected the rover system to the Aquarius power and data lines. Whitney activated the system. The power LED lit up as expected, but so did every other LED on the control panel. In fact, they were all madly flashing like a 1970s discotheque! Houston, we have a problem!

Robotic rover operations were threatened, and we only had minutes left to debug this problem before Whitney had to leave for the surface. James Talacek, our NURC crewmate, quickly pointed out that the push buttons on the rover control panel were of the flush mounted type. Each control button was a small, pressure-sensitive, sealed button (similar to keypads on some camcorders or calculators). The increased ambient pressure in Aquarius (two-and-a-half times that on the surface) had flattened several of the control buttons. That's why they were sending a continuous "close" status to the robot electronics. The robot was confused and indicated so with its flashing control lights.

"Craig!" we yelled. "Bring a suture and come here quick!" When Dr. Craig, our crewmate and skilled surgeon, arrived on the scene, we had him puncture tiny holes in the overlying membrane of the compressed buttons with a needle to allow air in so they would return them to their "open" state. That did the trick! We power-cycled the control box and were back in business. Whitney gave us a crash course on operating the Inuktun rover and then returned to the surface.

Since Inuktun is Canadian technology, the NEEMO 7 team allowed me to control the rover first. I sent Inuktun out to explore the reef and sand patch around the habitat. What a thrill!

Inuktun also reminds me of the two NASA/JPL robots currently exploring the surface of Mars. With their startling images of the Martian landscape and evidence that water may have once existed there, 
Spirit and Opportunity have captured the attention of scientists and people all over the world. Undersea robots are doing the same to explore the ocean floor.

Both robots and humans have roles to play in the exploration and development of space and the undersea world. I like to think that the capabilities of robots and humans complement each other in space and other extreme conditions. On the one hand, robots can reliably perform repetitive, programmed duties in environments that are too harsh for people. Human explorers, on the other hand, are adept at using ingenuity to solve unexpected problems. I was quite proud that, working together, the NEEMO 7 crew diagnosed the problem with Inuktun's confused control panel this afternoon and quickly found the solution, rescuing the robot's mission.

Inuktun is still with us. If we can find time in our schedule tomorrow, we will get one more chance to practice our robotic skills. My top priority now, however, is to go to bed. We must rise at 5 a.m. to prepare for a pre-sunrise scuba dive to the reef—another new experience for me.

Day 4 – October 14, 2004

Today was tough. Due to a system failure, we were not able to perform all of our scheduled activities.

One of the key technologies that enables NEEMO 7's telementoring and telesurgery experiments is a broadband high-rate data link between our Aquarius habitat and St. Joseph's Health Care Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. A key hardware component of that data link is located on the large life-support buoy (LSB) floating over our habitat. That component failed around noon today. Consequently, Aquarius was no longer able to transmit high-rate video imagery from its mock operating room. Mike Barratt and I had been scheduled to repair torn arteries with sutures while being telementored from Hamilton. These sessions had to be cancelled.

The good news is that a new component has been ordered and should be installed on the LSB by noon tomorrow. In the meantime, Aquarius operations will rely upon a back-up low data rate comm system. The bad news is that tomorrow's timeline is no longer valid and will be scrubbed. Our topside team will undoubtedly stay up late tonight to re-plan tomorrow's crew activities. A new plan should be aboard Aquarius for our perusal when we awake.

I had been quite pleased that up until today (Day 4), our crew had been able to follow the original mission timeline that had been meticulously developed during the weeks and months leading up to NEEMO 7—not an insignificant accomplishment!

We have a joke in the Astronaut Office that a mission timeline is rarely valid once the Space Shuttle has launched. Minor system malfunctions or payload glitches inevitably occur during every space mission that require re-planning of ensuing on-orbit activities. That is par for the course. Mission planners are certainly important members of every flight control team.

Four days on the original NEEMO 7 timeline is not a bad record. I bet that our high-rate data line will be restored tomorrow and that we will soon continue with the telemedicine operations. We will do all we can to collect the requested scientific data. Knock on wood!

Day 2 – October 12, 2004

"Wow" is the first word that comes to mind as I reflect on my first day aboard Aquarius. It seems as though the laws of physics that are so familiar on the surface are strangely altered undersea. For instance, I have a constant feeling of pressure in my ears. We all sound rather like Donald Duck. Instead of gazing on trees and grass when I look out the kitchen window, I see schools of fish and the occasional aquanaut passing by.

The code of conduct for aquanauts is also different. Billy and James, our "hab techs," briefed us on the unique aspects of undersea life. Aquarius is certainly a confined and isolated habitat. There is a code of conduct to be followed by each crewmember so that we can be neat, courteous, and safe. It also help ensure that we will all still be the best of friends after 11 mission days together. I don't feel claustrophobic. The living area of Aquarius is a bit like the space on a school bus—there's plenty for all—and the view out the window is spectacular.

The day has been so full of activity: two dive excursions, unpacking bags of hardware, setting up the computer network, and debugging some problems. We have dealt with a couple of problems: the boat that took us out to the habitat site had an engine problem, one of the camera housings leaked. We also claimed a small victory—Craig confirmed a good robotic command link with Hamilton, Ontario.

I can already see that it will be a major challenge to stay on the mission timeline. We may run late during the first few days of the mission as we adapt to this strange new world. When time gets short, we will have to prioritize the most crucial activities and sacrifice the less important. Working with our topside support team, we will sometimes need to make that difficult judgement call.

This first mission journal is short. The evening is late and we still need to hold a "crew tag-up" before bedtime. Gotta go!