Aquarius: Underwater Science Station
Summary
Aquarius is America’s “space station under the sea.” Since 1992, it has been located at a depth of 60 feet, perched on the Conch Reed, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Aquarius is a controlled environment, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assocation (NOAA). Aquanauts live and work here for days at a time, studying the fragile coral reef. What allows this kind of sustained human presence is a technique called saturation diving. A dive from the surface can only last about an hour, but the aquanauts in Aquarius can dive up to nine hours a day, because the pressure inside Aquarius matches the pressure of the ocean depth outside. This allows them to perform long-term experiments that are otherwise not possible. Former aquanaut and National Geographic explorer-in-residence Sylvia Earle (also known as Her Deepness, and the Sturgeon General) has completed two missions at Aquarius.
Keywords: Sylvia Earle, Aquarius, underwater habitat, underwater laboratory, NOAA, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
