Why is underwater training such an important aspect of astronaut training? I have heard that NASA astronauts actually train inside a 40-feet deep pool. How does it help when they go on space missions, as there is no such huge water bodies in space.

it helps simulate working in a weightless environment as they can float around easily in the tank while setting up some sort of rigging to do that in the air would be extremely complex costly and wouldn't work as well.

 

its not a perfect simulation, but according to the astronauts themselves its actually rather good.

Exactly. It's not about them preparing for large bodies of water in space. It's about getting their bodies and minds used to doing these activities like fixing tools and gathering samples in an environment that closely approximates weightlessness. It's more about buoyancy than anything else, more specifically, "controlled neutral booyancy."

 

Learn more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_Buoyancy_Laboratory

Exactly. It's not about them preparing for large bodies of water in space.

 

Oh, it appears I got my wires crossed, when I heard about space fish then...

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23277685/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23277685/

 

Hilbig said the fish landed safely and appeared to be in good condition.

 

"They were very happy, I think they want to have another flight," he said.

 

lol

Bringing this thread back on track, iNow had it right: It's not about them preparing for large bodies of water in space.. It's not even about preparing them for space in general. The Neutral Buoyancy Lab prepares the astronauts for very specific tasks. The NBL has one overarching purpose: Help the astronauts build the Space Station. This obviously involves training the astronauts in a somewhat realistic setting for a specific task. Someone might invent a new piece of flight hardware. The NBL helps determine whether the astronauts use this thingamajig. Every addition to the station is a bit unique. A new crew procedure is needed to guide the astronauts through the assembly. Even though the authors of the crew procedures are well-aware of the unique characteristics of the space environment, the still occasionally write procedures that physically cannot be performed or that entail too much risk. The NBL helps wring out these crew procedures.

Underwater training for astronauts is really important. It's the way in which they learn how to counteract weightlessness in space. i have experienced a similar training at an amateur level once, when i had been a member of Space Camp India. When i registered myself at http://spacecampindia.com/index.htm I knew that I would get an overview of astronaut training methods, but i never expected it would be so much in-depth and exhaustive. We were actually given oxygen cylinders and scuba gears. Later we had to step down the pool at the US Space and Rocket Centre at Huntsville, where we had to perform different activities - all underwater. Because of the buoyancy we had no control on our body movements and a small task seemed so difficult to perform. However, with lot of effort we managed to complete our task. Later we were informed that astronauts also face a similar situation in space. Due to weightlessness, one task which seems so simple on earth, would be really difficult to accomplish on space. Hence this is how they are trained to counter the situation.