Aquarius: transitioning to an unmanned life support buoy.
The Aquarius underwater laboratory (or habitat) is the world's only operational saturation facility currently supporting scientific research and is operated by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The underwater laboratory accommodates and supports six aquanauts (scientists and habitat technicians) at habitat depth for 10-30-day missions. In the past, life support systems were provided by a manned support barge or Mobile Support Base (MSB) moored directly above Aquarius. The MSB was manned 24 h a day during saturation missions, which required 12 support staff in three separate shifts. A new unmanned Life Support Buoy (LSB) replaces the MSB and provides life support systems and is the voice, video, and data communications bridge from the habitat to the shore base. The LSB transmits status of all life support systems to the habitat and the shore base, thus minimizing the need for support staff to be present overtop of Aquarius during missions.
Smith
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Harris Corporation, Palm Bay, FL 32907, USA. sinjin@palmnet.net
Cooper
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D001331:Automation; D004242:Diving; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D008021:Life Support Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008386:Marine Biology; D012106:Research; D013366:Submarine Medicine / Q000295:instrumentation*