A flight surgeon, two astronauts and a Cincinnati doctor began a 12-day NASA mission to depths of the ocean off the Florida coast on Monday to test space medicine concepts and moon-walking techniques.

Aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Aquarius Underwater Laboratory, the crew of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations 12 (NEEMO 12) will conduct a variety of advanced medical technology experiments, including robotic telesurgery on simulated patients.

It is the first undersea mission to include a NASA flight surgeon.

"Flight Surgeon Josef Schmid's unique experience in space medicine will benefit the mission itself as well as the future development of crew care techniques for long-duration human space flight missions," NEEMO project manager Bill Todd said in a statement.

Hands-on telesurgery demonstrations and robotic telesurgery technology developed and refined within this mission will help surgeons overcome interplanetary communication lag time. Technologies such as surgeon-guided automatic robot function could improve the care of astronauts on future missions to the moon and Mars.

The crew will conduct simulated undersea "moon walks" to test concepts for future lunar exploration.

During the simulated moon walks, they will construct an undersea structure with the help of a remotely operated vehicle, similar to what the next travelers to the moon may do.

The crew also will practice collecting geological samples to help develop tools and techniques for collecting lunar samples as well as train future lunar explorers to be geologists.

Similar in size to the International Space Station's living quarters, Aquarius is the world's only permanent underwater habitat and laboratory. The 14-meter long, 4-meter diameter complex is about 19 meters beneath the surface.

A surface buoy provides power connections, life support and communications for the lab. A shore-based control center monitors the habitat and crew.

Source: Xinhua