Author Archives: julien

Posted on April 18, 2013 by

Luke Skywalker

Luca writes: I am in Moscow, Russia, five weeks till launch. These are the last weeks I will spend with my feet firmly on the ground (my head is still in the clouds, as always). I feel...

Posted on September 6, 2012 by

CAVES Training Day 3

Editors note: Andreas sent us this update via email. “Ready Soichi? Ready Drew?” I yell out in the semi-darkness. Their helmet lights flicker in the cave, dimly indicating their positions twenty to thirty meters ahead of me. “Ready”, they both yell back. “Alright, lights off please.” The cave descends into a deep darkness that seems to suffocate me. Not even our instructor Francesco, standing besides me is visible. I activate the shutter on the camera and step away. Two seconds later, a soft click indicates that the tripod-mounted camera has opened the shutter and I yell, “Flash, please.” For the next thirty seconds lightning flashes through the cave as Soichi, Drew, and I attempt...

Posted on June 18, 2012 by

Incredible special effects

Editor’s note: this is Timothy Peake’s blog during NEEMO 16 The past 24 hours has simply been an incredible experience. And considering that this entire NEEMO 16 mission has so far been an incredible experience that is saying something. About this time last night I was heading out the wet porch with fellow crewmember Steve Squyres for a night dive, with only one objective…to have fun 🙂 Night time underwater is something very special. Having lived with the marine life for several days now we have begun to recognize their routine. As the sun goes down, the fish start to get excited. Small larvae gather in the external lights of Aquarius and...

Posted on June 14, 2012 by

NEEMO 16…Teamwork!

Editor’s note: this is Timothy Peake’s blog during NEEMO 16 ‘Good Teamwork’ – it’s something that makes the difference between winning or losing, success or failure and in extreme cases living or dying. As jargon, ‘teamwork’ is easy enough to say – much harder to define and it can be a tricky little recipe to create. When everyone is working selflessly towards a common goal…that’s a good start…and as a crew member of NEEMO 16 I am witnessing daily so many fantastic examples of great teamwork. Often it’s the little things that make all the difference, like the thankless task our support divers had removing the trash bags from Aquarius this morning,...

Posted on June 12, 2012 by

Splashdown!

Editors note: this is Timothy Peake’s blog entry reprinted from the NASA Neemo Blog  After months of training and preparation the day finally arrived… Splashdown for NASA’s NEEMO 16 mission. The crew woke early, eager to pack the few last remaining items into the ‘pots’ that our superb support crew, amongst their many other tasks, would be taking down to the Aquarius habitat ahead of our arrival. The atmosphere on the Key Largo dockside this morning was buzzing with activity, conversation and good humour. The NEEMO mission team had gathered to say farewell to the saturation crew – and despite our intense excitement at what lay ahead we were genuinely sorry to say...