images

NBL facilities (Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory)

by

ESA/S.Corvaja/Novapix

Reference

e-sts98-00001

Date

2009-03-20

The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory pool at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where astronauts, wearing a 65-kg Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit, practice spacewalking and working outside the International Space Station during underwater simulated extravehicular activities (EVAs).
This facility consists in a 62-m-long, 31-m-wide and 12-m-deep water reservoir, with a capacity of 23,500 cubic meters. Two overhead bridge cranes are used to display mock space station modules for training. The spacesuit buoyancy provides a simulated weightlessness for astronaut trainees. Most ESA astronauts have been practicing EVAs at the NBL as part of their NASA Mission Specialist training.