What becomes possible when scientists can live and work beneath the ocean instead of racing against the limits of a conventional dive?
Recorded at the opening of DEEP Station Florida in Marathon, this episode of The Blue Economy explores Vanguard, the first open-ocean crewed subsea habitat deployed in United States waters in more than 40 years.
Installed 17 metres beneath the surface at Tennessee Reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Vanguard can support four crew members on missions lasting five days or more. The habitat gives scientists sustained access to the ocean for reef restoration, marine research, technology development and the study of human performance in extreme environments.
Dr. Dawn Kernagis explains how living at depth allows researchers to spend significantly more time working outside the habitat, study deeper reef systems and examine marine samples closer to where they are collected. Drawing on her experience as a NASA NEEMO aquanaut, she also explores the close relationship between underwater habitats, human physiology and preparation for space exploration.
Norman Smith brings a career spanning deep-ocean robotics and human spaceflight, including equipment that remains aboard the International Space Station. He reveals the engineering discipline required to design, build, test and deploy a habitat where life-support systems, power, communications and surface operations must work together continuously.
The conversation also looks beyond Vanguard to Sentinel, DEEP’s larger modular habitat system, and the long-term ambition of making sustained human presence beneath the ocean a practical tool for science, conservation, education and exploration.
Guests:
Dr. Dawn Kernagis, Director of Scientific Research, DEEP
Norman Smith, Chief Technology Officer, DEEP
Host:
Katherine O’Fallon, Executive Director, Marine Research Hub of South Florida
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Learn more about DEEP:
https://www.deep.com/
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https://www.instagram.com/deepengineered/
Marine Research Hub of South Florida:
https://marineresearchhub.org/
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The Blue Economy | Yachting International Radio
