Date: September 1st 2006

Sept 1, 2006

Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749

Kylie Clem Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

RELEASE: 06-309

NASA CONTINUES SPACE EXPLORATION RESEARCH WITH UNDERSEA LAB

NASA's third mission this year to an undersea laboratory off the Florida coast begins when four astronauts splash down Sept 16

Veteran space flyer astronaut Sandra H Magnus will lead the crew on a seven-day undersea mission Sept 16 - 22 onboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Aquarius underwater laboratory Army Lt Col Timothy L Kopra, Army Col Timothy J Creamer and Air Force Maj Robert L Behnken round out the astronaut crew Roger Garcia and Larry Ward of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington will provide engineering support inside the habitat All four astronauts are training for possible assignment to missions to the International Space Station

During the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 11, astronauts will imitate moonwalks, testing concepts for mobility using various spacesuit configurations and weights to simulate lunar gravity Techniques for communication, navigation, geological sample retrieval, construction and using remote-controlled robots on the moon's surface also will be tested

"We continue to press the limits of our imaginations as we test operational concepts that may be used when we return to the moon," said NEEMO 11 Mission Director Marc Reagan "Building on the NEEMO 9 and 10 missions, we will explore new challenges and learn to overcome the inherent difficulties of living and working on the moon These results will allow our designers and engineers to improve designs of habitats, robots and spacesuits "

Aquarius is owned and funded by NOAA and operated by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington's Undersea Research Center The center is part of NOAA's Undersea Research Program Aquarius hosts teams of scientists on research missions, usually 10 days long, to study science and management issues on its surrounding coral reef ecosystems

Aquarius is a 45-foot-long, 13-foot-diameter complex three miles off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary The laboratory rests 62 feet beneath the surface A shore-based mission control center in Florida monitors the habitat and crew The NEEMO 11 work will be monitored at NASA's Johnson Space Center's Exploration Planning Operations Center, Houston This is the last NEEMO mission this year More are planned in 2007

Magnus flew to the International Space Station on shuttle mission STS-112 in October 2002 She used the station's robotic arm to help attach a new segment to the station's truss structure Magnus was born in Belleville, Ill She has a bachelor's in physics and a master's in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a doctorate from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta

Kopra was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and is assigned to the Space Station Operations Branch of the Astronaut Office He was born in Austin,Texas He holds a bachelor's from the U S Military Academy, West Point, N Y , and a master's in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology

Selected as an astronaut in 1998, Creamer works in the Robotics Branch of the Astronaut Office Creamer considers Upper Marlboro, Md , his hometown He has a bachelor's from Loyola College and a master's from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

Behnken was selected as an astronaut in 2000 He considers St Ann, Mo , his hometown He has bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering and physics from Washington University, St Louis, and a master's and doctorate in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif He is a graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif

For interviews with the NEEMO 11 crew call the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 For more on NOAA, contact Fred Gorell, Silver Spring, Md , at 301-713-9444, ext 181 Through NASA's Digital Learning Network (DLN), classrooms will be able to videoconference with Aquarius Students will conduct experiments of their own before talking with the aquanauts The pre-event activities are designed to complement the NEEMO 11 mission objectives

For more information about NEEMO, including mission imagery, crew journals, and links to webcams and the Digital Learning Network, visit:

http://www nasa gov/neemo

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