NEEMO

NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, is a NASA analog mission that sends groups of astronauts, engineers and scientists to live in the Aquarius underwater laboratory, the world's only undersea research station, for up to three weeks at a time in preparation for future space exploration.

Aquarius is an underwater habitat 3.5 mi off Key Largo, Florida, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It is deployed on the ocean floor next to deep coral reefs 62 ft below the surface.

NASA has used it since 2001 for a series of space exploration simulation missions, usually lasting 7 to 14 days, with space research mainly conducted by international astronauts. The mission had cost about 500 million U.S. dollars. The crew members are called aquanauts (as they live underwater at depth pressure for a period equal to or greater than 24 continuous hours without returning to the surface), and they perform EVAs in the underwater environment. A technique known as saturation diving allows the aquanauts to live and work underwater for days or weeks at a time. After twenty four hours underwater at any depth, the human body becomes saturated with dissolved gas. With saturation diving, divers can accurately predict exactly how much time they need to decompress before returning to the surface. This information limits the risk of decompression sickness. By living in the Aquarius habitat and working at the same depth on the ocean floor, NEEMO crews are able to remain underwater for the duration of their mission.

For NASA, the Aquarius habitat and its surroundings provide a convincing analog for space exploration. Much like space, the undersea world is a hostile, alien place for humans to live. NEEMO crew members experience some of the same challenges there that they would on a distant asteroid, planet (i.e. Mars) or Moon. During NEEMO missions, the aquanauts are able to simulate living on a spacecraft and test spacewalk techniques for future space missions. Working in space and underwater environments requires extensive planning and sophisticated equipment. The underwater condition has the additional benefit of allowing NASA to "weight" the aquanauts to simulate different gravity environments.

Until 2012, Aquarius was owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operated by the National Undersea Research Center (NURC) at the University of North Carolina–Wilmington as a marine biology study base.

Since 2013, Aquarius is owned by Florida International University (FIU). As part of the FIU Marine Education and Research Initiative, the Medina Aquarius Program is dedicated to the study and preservation of marine ecosystems worldwide and is enhancing the scope and impact of FIU on research, educational outreach, technology development, and professional training. At the heart of the program is the Aquarius Reef Base.

NEEMO 1: October 21–27, 2001
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Bill Todd 🇺🇸, Commander
 * Michael L. Gernhardt 🇺🇸
 * Michael López-Alegría 🇺🇸
 * Dafydd Williams, 🇨🇦 CSA

NURC Support Crew:
 * Mark Hulsbeck 🇺🇸
 * Ryan Snow 🇺🇸

NEEMO 2: May 13–20, 2002
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Michael Fincke 🇺🇸, Commander
 * Daniel M. Tani 🇺🇸
 * Sunita Williams 🇺🇸
 * Marc Reagan 🇺🇸

NURC Support Crew:
 * Thor Dunmire 🇺🇸
 * Ryan Snow 🇺🇸

NEEMO 3: July 15–21, 2002
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Jeffrey Williams 🇺🇸, Commander
 * Gregory Chamitoff 🇺🇸
 * John D. Olivas 🇺🇸
 * Jonathan Dory 🇺🇸

NURC Support Crew:
 * Byron Croker 🇺🇸
 * Michael Smith 🇺🇸

NEEMO 4: September 23–27, 2002
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Scott Kelly 🇺🇸, Commander
 * Paul Hill 🇺🇸
 * Rex Walheim🇺🇸
 * Jessica Meir🇺🇸

NURC Support Crew:
 * James Talacek 🇺🇸
 * Ryan Snow 🇺🇸

NEEMO 5: June 16–29, 2003
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Peggy Whitson 🇺🇸, Commander
 * Clayton Anderson 🇺🇸
 * Garrett Reisman 🇺🇸
 * Emma Hwang 🇺🇸

NURC Support Crew:
 * James Talacek 🇺🇸
 * Ryan Snow 🇺🇸

NEEMO 6: July 12–21, 2004
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * John Herrington 🇺🇸, Commander
 * Nicholas Patrick🇺🇸
 * Douglas H. Wheelock🇺🇸
 * Tara Ruttley🇺🇸

NURC Support Crew:
 * Craig B. Cooper 🇺🇸
 * Joseph March, 🇺🇸
 * Marc Reagan, Mission Director

NEEMO 7: October 11–21, 2004
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Robert Thirsk 🇨🇦, Commander
 * Catherine Coleman 🇺🇸
 * Michael R. Barratt 🇺🇸
 * Craig McKinley 🇺🇸

NURC Support Crew:
 * James Talacek 🇺🇸
 * Billy Cooksey 🇺🇸
 * Bill Todd, Mission Director

NEEMO 8: April 20–22, 2005
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Michael L. Gernhardt 🇺🇸, Commander
 * John D. Olivas 🇺🇸
 * Scott Kelly 🇺🇸
 * Monika Schultz 🇺🇸

NURC Support Crew:
 * Craig B. Cooper 🇺🇸
 * Joseph March 🇺🇸
 * Bill Todd, Mission Director

NEEMO 9: April 3–20, 2006
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Dafydd Williams 🇨🇦, Commander
 * Nicole P. Stott 🇺🇸
 * Ronald J. Garan Jr. 🇺🇸
 * Timothy J. Broderick 🇺🇸, M.D.

NURC Support Crew:
 * James F. Buckley 🇺🇸
 * Ross Hein 🇺🇸
 * Marc Reagan, Mission Director

NEEMO 10: July 22–28, 2006
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Koichi Wakata, Commander
 * Andrew Feustel
 * Karen L. Nyberg
 * Karen Kohanowich

NURC Support Crew:
 * Mark Hulsbeck
 * Dominic Landucci
 * Marc Reagan, Mission Director

NEEMO 11: September 16–22, 2006
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Sandra Magnus, Commander
 * Timothy Kopra
 * Robert L. Behnken
 * Timothy Creamer

NURC Support Crew:
 * Larry Ward
 * Roger Garcia
 * Marc Reagan, Mission Director

NEEMO 12: May 7–18, 2007
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Commander
 * José M. Hernández
 * Josef Schmid, M.D.
 * Timothy J. Broderick, M.D.

NURC Support Crew:
 * Dominic Landucci
 * James Talacek
 * Marc Reagan, Mission Director

NEEMO 13: August 6–15, 2007
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Nicholas Patrick, Commander
 * Richard R. Arnold
 * Satoshi Furukawa
 * Christopher E. Gerty

NURC Support Crew:
 * James F. Buckley
 * Dewey Smith
 * Marc Reagan, Mission Director

NEEMO 14: May 10–23, 2010
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Chris Hadfield, Commander
 * Thomas H. Marshburn
 * Andrew Abercromby
 * Steve Chappell

Aquarius Reef Base support crew:
 * James Talacek
 * Nate Bender
 * Bill Todd, Mission Director

NEEMO 15: October 20–26, 2011
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Shannon Walker, Commander
 * Takuya Onishi
 * David Saint-Jacques
 * Steve Squyres

Aquarius Reef Base support crew:
 * James Talacek
 * Nate Bender

DeepWorker 2000 submersible crew:
 * Stanley G. Love
 * Richard R. Arnold
 * Michael L. Gernhardt

NEEMO 16: June 11–22, 2012
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Commander
 * Kimiya Yui
 * Timothy Peake
 * Steve Squyres

Aquarius Reef Base support crew:
 * James Talacek
 * Justin Brown

DeepWorker 2000 submersible crew:
 * Stanley G. Love
 * Steve Giddings
 * Serena M. Auñón
 * Bill Todd
 * Michael L. Gernhardt
 * Andrew Abercromby
 * Steve Chappell

SEATEST II: September 9–13, 2013
Space Environment Analog for Testing EVA Systems and Training ( NEEMO 17 ) Designation skipped

NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Joseph M. Acaba, Commander
 * Kate Rubins
 * Andreas Mogensen
 * Soichi Noguchi

Aquarius Reef Base support crew:
 * Mark Hulsbeck
 * Otto Rutten

NEEMO 18: July 21–29, 2014
NASA Aquanaut Crew: Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew:
 * Akihiko Hoshide, Commander
 * Jeanette J. Epps
 * Mark T. Vande Hei
 * Thomas Pesquet
 * James Talacek
 * Hank Stark (FIU)

NEEMO 19: September 7–13, 2014
NASA Aquanaut Crew: Aquarius Reef Base support crew:
 * Randolph Bresnik, Commander
 * Andreas Mogensen, Flight Engineer 1
 * Jeremy Hansen, Flight Engineer 2
 * Hervé Stevenin, Flight Engineer 3
 * Mark Hulsbeck
 * Ryan LaPete

NEEMO 20: July 20 – August 2, 2015
NASA Aquanaut Crew:
 * Luca Parmitano, ESA, commander
 * Serena M. Auñón, NASA
 * David Coan, NASA EVA Management Office engineer
 * Norishige Kanai, JAXA

Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew:
 * Mark Hulsbeck (FIU)
 * Sean Moore (FIU)

NEEMO 20 mission objective was to simulate the time delays associated with sending and receiving commands between controllers on Earth and astronauts on Mars. Additional EVAs will simulate working on the surface of an asteroid, and the use of the DeepWorker submersible as an underwater stand-in for the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle.

NEEMO 21: July 21 – August 5, 2016
The NEEMO 21 mission was scheduled to begin July 18, 2016 and conclude August 3, 2016; however, the mission start was shifted to July 21, 2016 as a result of unfavorable weather conditions.

NASA Aquanaut Crew: Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew:
 * Reid Wiseman, NASA, Commander 1
 * Megan McArthur, NASA, Commander 2
 * Marc O´Gríofa
 * Matthias Maurer, ESA
 * Noel Du Toit
 * Dawn Kernagis
 * Hank Stark (FIU)
 * Sean Moore (FIU)

NEEMO 22: June 18–27, 2017
NASA Aquanaut Crew: Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew:
 * Kjell Lindgren, NASA, Commander
 * Pedro Duque, ESA
 * Trevor Graff, NASA/Jacobs
 * Dominic D'Agostino, USF
 * Mark Hulsbeck (FIU)
 * Sean Moore (FIU)

NEEMO 23: June 10–22, 2019
NASA all-female Aquanaut Crew:
 * Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA, Commander
 * Jessica Watkins, NASA astronaut candidate
 * Csilla Ari D’Agostino, a neurobiologist at the University of South Florida
 * Shirley Pomponi, Marine biologist at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute of Florida Atlantic University

Professional habitat technicians, Aquarius Reef Base support crew:
 * Mark Hulsbeck (FIU)
 * Tom Horn (FIU)