Back to the Moon Pool: Reuniting at Jules Undersea Lodge
This week on Casual Space, Beth heads back to familiar waters, and to some very familiar faces! Longtime listeners will remember the STORIES of Space crew lived and worked inside Jules' Undersea Lodge for MISSION 05. Now Beth checks in with the Sea Star crew, living about 20 feet underwater in that very same habitat.
This crew is something of a reunion. Paul Bakken was Beth's crewmate at Jules on STORIES of Space MISSION 05. Dr. Michaela Musilova and Dr. Brandy Nunes served with Beth on her 2020 analog mission in Hawaii. And Jen Pint joins the conversation as the newest member of the family.
Ahhhh. The memories of the moon pool, the murky lagoon, and the cozy bunks! This one is a true insider's conversation about mission setup, citizen science experiments, crew cohesion, and why analog astronaut missions aren't just for career scientists. Or the faint of heart. Or anyone who's claustrophobic.
Meet the crew:
Dr. Michaela Musilova, astrobiologist and mission commander, is studying how reflexes, math performance, and cognition hold up under pressure and fatigue.
Dr. Brandy Nunes, veterinarian and microbiologist, is germinating seeds under different depressurization conditions and tracking stress through saliva-based cortisol and hormone sampling.
Jen Pint, process engineer on her second analog mission, is validating a taxonomy for tracking and categorizing mission events.
Paul Bakken, who works in health licensing and mission operations, returns to Jules to test vacuum pumps and improved fittings that keep waterproof cases from "burping" during ascent. He's still the crew's resident MacGyver.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Jules compares to newer submerged facilities, and why it feels so surprisingly spacious
Warm water, low visibility, fish sightings, and orienting as a team on the way into the moon pool
Jen's brand-new scuba certification and her first lagoon dive
Why a shared vocabulary for "good" and "bad" events helps every habitat learn from the last
Crew games, "forced fun," and the power of a shared meal
Cooking under pressure (literally) and Paul's crock pot setup
Michaela's Astro Seven Summits project, combining astrobiology, education, and documentary filmmaking on the tallest peak of every continent
Outreach to Slovakia's Cosmic Region analog station
The realities of habitat life, including a toilet drainage surprise and a gasket repair
Why analog missions are one of the most accessible doors into citizen science
Overheard in the habitat:
"If your heart calls you to do an adventure, go for it."
"This is an example of citizen science. Successful."
"Cooking under pressure."
Whether you dove in with us on MISSION 05 or this is your first trip to Jules, this episode will make you want to pack your fins.
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