 Aquaman actor Adrian Grenier waved hi to me through the viewport yesterday. | Day 3 already! Oh man. Time is flying by. Even Fabien thinks so. As of today, he, Otter and Ryan have been here 19 days, making it one day longer than the longest previous stay in Aquarius. Just incredible. 6:00 AMWhen I rolled out of bed, every one was already up and at'um, eating breakfast, chatting, and prepping gear for the day. I started pulling on my wetsuit at about 6:30am, meanwhile reviewing with Liz our plan for the dive. |
7:00 AM
Liz and I started our dive. Before every dive we spend about 10 minutes going over a checklist with Otter, who reads the checklist, and Ryan, who helps us put the Kirby Morgan dive helmet on. (My dive helmet post with Lady Gaga is here.) In going over the checklist, we check the functionality of various valves and emergency back-ups on the helmet. Every time everything works, as far as I know. The checklist can seem tedious, but I realize how important it is. I started thinking back to Atul Gawande's book The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. I remember hearing that the medical profession, which suffers from human error, should really use checklists, but doctors just don't. I see why. They're annoying. And everything seems to work. But then again, the checklist seems like the only way to ensure all is as it's suppose to be. Not only do we catch anything not functioning, but routinely checking all the valves, etc. puts our mind at ease. I never have that feeling of, "Am I forgetting something...." I just focus on my dive, and I feel like the master of my equipment.
This morning of our dive we collected samples in jars from the plankton traps (described in this previous post), and then stored the jars in a mesh bag that Northeastern divers will pick up in the afternoon. We also adjusted a tripod around a giant barrel sponge. The tripod suspends a sensor above the sponge, and the sensors measures the sponge metabolism.
This morning of our dive we collected samples in jars from the plankton traps (described in this previous post), and then stored the jars in a mesh bag that Northeastern divers will pick up in the afternoon. We also adjusted a tripod around a giant barrel sponge. The tripod suspends a sensor above the sponge, and the sensors measures the sponge metabolism.
9:00 AM
We returned to Aquarius from our first dive. I ate a late breakfast and change both the the lens and set-up on the Edgertronic camera in case we have extra time to use it on our afternoon dive.
 Good morning from The Weather Channel. |  Exploring under the sea. |
Met an astronaut, in the water!
| On our second dive of the day, from noon to 3pm, we greeted astronaut Clay Anderson in the water. It was unreal. Fabien, Liz and I all shook his hand as he stepped onto the "porch" of Aquarius. We then gave him a tour around the house. A video of his visit is here. There's an interesting New York Times' article about the space and sea: Cosmic Connections in the Deep Sea. Living undersea, I have a new appreciation for our planet as a whole. Both astronauts and aquanauts are willing to live in an alien environment to explore the unknown, which links our cosmic work, whether it be in space or ocean. We are still looking for life in outer space, but there's so much undersea. During our afternoon dive, Liz and I also used a plankton tow to collect more plankton samples. You can read more about the research we are doing with the Northeastern topside team at their blog, specifically Amanda's post about zooplankton. |  Exploring the unknown cosmos links space and ocean scientists. Credit NYT, Elwood H. Smith |
Astronauts and Aquanauts on Jacques B'Day
Space and ocean and space explorers alike remembered Jacques Cousteau, the great explorer, on his birthday this month. See my post Happy Birthday Jacques Cousteau! for details of the celebration.
 Mission 31 Aquanauts on Jacques Cousteau's birthday 2014. It seems aquanuts & astronauts share a common desire to explore the unknown. |  NASA_ NEEMO9 Astronauts also celebrating on Jacques Cousteau's birthday 2014. |
OUTREACH, Great Questions
 Skyping with classrooms ... the students have great questions. Credit Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis. | In between research dives, we are Skyping with different groups around the world, spreading the word about how exciting and important the oceans are. Yesterday, I Skyped with the AAT Project and the Birches School (read about my fall visit there) and from the research boat last week. Birches' kindergarten through third grade students asked:
There are more great adorable questions from this group in the fall. |
It's BIZARRE...
To be able to see myself working, on the Mission 31 Live Cam.
E.g., this is me the first night here, staying up late. At MIT Commencement, President Reif said, “MIT gradutes are naturally nocturnal, especially when chasing a fresh idea.” I guess it's true.
More Grace Under Pressure blog at Aquarius Day 4: Science and Ballet Art Undersea.
RSS Feed
