Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
{{short description| NASA astronaut training facility in Houston, Texas }}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox laboratory
| name = Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
| image = NASA Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Astronaut Training.jpg
| caption = An astronaut training in the NBL
| established = {{start date|1995|04}}{{Cite web|title=NBL Timeline|website=Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory|url=http://dx12.jsc.nasa.gov/history/nblTimeline.shtml|access-date=20 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402174706/http://dx12.jsc.nasa.gov/history/nblTimeline.shtml|archive-date=2 April 2015}}
| city = Houston
| state = Texas
| country = United States
| operating_agency = NASA
| website = {{URL|https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/neutral-buoyancy-laboratory/}}
| logo = NBL-logo.jpg
}}
The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) is an astronaut training facility and neutral buoyancy pool operated by NASA and located at the Sonny Carter Training Facility, near the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.{{cite journal |last=Strauss |first=S |title=Space medicine at the NASA-JSC, neutral buoyancy laboratory |journal=Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine |volume=79 |issue=7 |pages=732–3 |date=July 2008 |pmid=18619137}} The NBL's main feature is a large indoor pool of water,{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/training/nbl/facilities.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021124015044/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/training/nbl/facilities.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 24, 2002 |title=Behind the scenes training |publisher=NASA |date=May 30, 2003 |access-date=March 22, 2011}} in which astronauts may perform simulated EVA tasks in preparation for upcoming missions. Trainees wear suits designed to provide neutral buoyancy to simulate the microgravity that astronauts experience during spaceflight.
History
In the late 1980s NASA began to consider replacing its previous neutral-buoyancy training facility, the Weightless Environment Training Facility (WETF). The WETF, located at Johnson Space Center, had been successfully used to train astronauts for numerous missions, but its pool was too small to hold useful mock-ups of space station components of the sorts intended for the mooted Space Station Freedom, or its successor, the International Space Station.
This new pool was going to be on Johnson Space Center property and was planned to be {{convert|235|ft|m|sp=us|order=flip}} by {{convert|135|ft|m|sp=us|order=flip}}, with a depth of {{convert|60|ft|m|sp=us|order=flip}}. To save money, it was downsized and placed inside an existing structure.
NASA purchased the structure that now holds the NBL from McDonnell Douglas in the early 1990s and began refitting it as a neutral-buoyancy training center in 1995.{{Cite news|title=Swimming with spacemen: training for spacewalks at NASA's giant pool|last=Hutchinson|first=Lee|date=4 March 2013|newspaper=Ars Technica|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/03/swimming-with-spacemen/|access-date=24 March 2015}}
File:NASA Commercialization Training Camp and NFL 3.jpg|The {{convert|6.2|e6gal|e6l|abbr=off}} tank includes mock-ups of International Space Station modules and other training materials
Image:NASA Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory control area.jpg|Simulation control area
File:US Navy Divers practice recovery operations at JSC (jsc2022e045101).jpg|Orion capsule recovery diver practice
Facility features
The diving tank is {{convert|202|ft|m}} in length, {{convert|102|ft|m}} wide, and {{convert|40|ft|m}} deep, and contains {{convert|6.2|e6gal|e6l|abbr=off}} of water.{{cite web|title=NBL Characteristics|work=About the NBL|publisher=NASA|date=June 23, 2005|url=http://dx12.jsc.nasa.gov/about/index.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626165503/http://dx12.jsc.nasa.gov/about/index.shtml|archive-date=June 26, 2007}} The NBL contains full-scale mock-ups of International Space Station (ISS) modules and payloads, as well as visiting vehicles such as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) HTV, the European Space Agency ATV, the SpaceX Dragon, and the Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus.{{cite journal|vauthors=Strauss S, Krog RL, Feiveson AH |title=Extravehicular mobility unit training and astronaut injuries|journal=Aviat Space Environ Med|volume=76|issue=5|pages=469–74|date=May 2005|pmid=15892545|url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asma/asem/2005/00000076/00000005/art00008|access-date=2008-08-27}} Full-scale mock-ups of equipment such as the Space Shuttle payload bay and Hubble Space Telescope have been removed, as they are no longer needed for training.
The facility contains a hyperbaric chamber for treating any dive related emergencies, as well as an altitude chamber to simulate physiological effects of flying.
{{wide image|NASA Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Panorama.jpg|1000px|Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory}}
See also
- {{annotated link|Neutral buoyancy pool}}
- {{annotated link|Weightlessness}}
- {{annotated link|Reduced-gravity aircraft|aka=Vomit Comet}}
- {{annotated link|Neutral Buoyancy Simulator}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
{{NASA centers}}
{{Underwater diving|other}}
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