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Space

Ocean floor simulates lunar conditions

7 September 2005

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The team will even attempt to build a lunar base on the sea floor

(Image: NASA)

The Sea of Tranquility it isn’t. But for a team of US and Canadian astronauts, a lab on the ocean floor will be the next best thing.

As part of a programme to return to the moon, NASA is sending six astronauts on an 18-day mission next month to an underwater lab called Aquarius, 20 metres beneath the surface of the ocean near Key Largo, Florida.

The goal is to simulate a moon mission by exploring the reef area using an underwater version of…

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