NEEMO 11 Topside Support: Mission Day 1: Saturday, September 16th, 2006

Mission: September, 2006 Saturation

The NEEMO 11 crew successfully “splashed down” at 10:21 am Saturday to start their 7-day mission aboard Aquarius.

The day was very busy as they tackled 2 orientation dives, safety briefings on their new home, and getting all of their gear unpacked, set up, and stowed. Previous crews have compared the pace of the day to their first hours on space missions. These activities went smoothly – even getting ahead on the timeline and objectives at times – which was a testimony to the preparation the crew and support team put into this mission.

Tomorrow they will beginning a construction task under the supervision of the Mission Control Team in Houston, doing a study to help determine the optimal center of gravity configuration for spacesuits, and operating a multi-purpose robot.

– NEEMO 11 Topside Team