NASA Chooses PVC for Critical Underwater Training

HOUSTON, Feb. 5, 2007 (VNS) – One of the ways astronauts build the critical teamwork skills needed in space is by working together on difficult projects underwater. One project – scheduled for May – is to build a 25-foot lattice tower of PVC pipe on the ocean floor off the Florida Keys. It will later be dismantled.

A goal of the training is to test the idea of building a communication relay station – like a mini cell-phone tower – on the moon. This will enable future moon walkers outside the space vehicle to be in direct contact with their astronaut colleagues on the inside. In the past, they could speak to the near-by vehicle only by connecting directly to Mission Control in Houston.

NASA officials said they selected PVC materials for this project because PVC is friendly to the environment, does not contaminate, corrode or break down, and at the same time is “durable, sturdy, and can hold weight.” The tower’s 200 PVC components include pipes, elbows and T-joints.

Dubbed LunaSea, the project is one of the in-water task training exercises in NASA’s Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) program. A similar tower was erected and then dismantled last September.