A team of NASA’s top extreme mission experts on July 27 will be discussing the intricacies of space exploration and training needed during a live interactive telecast hosted by Oakland University.
The event is open to the campus community and the general public and will be held in room 201 of Dodge Hall on Oakland’s campus. the program will begin at 2 p.m. with Skype connection to Aquanauts for their presentation and question and answer session to begin at 3 p.m. the program concludes at 4 p.m.
The program will touch on NASA training missions, the diversity of research associated with space exploration and the diverse career opportunities at NASA.
Pre-registration for the event is required by signing up at https://goo.gl/DxVGcN.
Amy Butler, Executive Director of OU INC, said the telecast will be a “great opportunity for attendees to interact with the NEEMO aquanauts and see how NASA prepares for deep space missions.”
The experts talking to students are members of the aquanaut crew of the NASA NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) 21 mission. They will discuss the mission, which includes NASA sending groups of astronauts, engineers and scientists to live in Aquarius, the world's only undersea research station, for up to three weeks at a time. The Aquarius habitat and its surroundings provide a convincing analog for space exploration.
The telecast was made possible by OU INC accelerator client, TeloRegen – a biotech company that specializes in regenerative medicine – and Dr. Marc O Griofa, Chief Medical Officer of the group and member of the NEEMO mission. OUINC and the School of Engineering and Computer Science are co-sponsors of the event.
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About NEEMO 21
Living on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the 21st NEEMO crew will focus on evaluating tools and techniques being tested for future space exploration by living in simulated spacecraft conditions and conducting simulated space walks outside of their undersea habitat.
Inside the habitat, the international crew will conduct a variety of research and operational studies, such as testing a mini DNA sequencer and a medical telemetry device that will be used for future space applications. During their simulated spacewalks, the crew will collect samples for marine biology and geology studies, team with underwater remote operating vehicles, test operational software, and participate in a coral restoration project. Throughout many of these tasks, the mission will also test time delays in communications to simulate scenarios often encountered in space exploration. 