How to Visit the Florida Keys Like a NASA Aquanaut

Practice makes perfectespecially when nobody has any idea what to expect.

In order to prepare astronauts for future missions to extreme conditions like Mars, NASA is sending six of them to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. Like the European Space Agency's training program that sends astronauts into caves in Italy, the underwater expedition is intended to teach the trainees to work together while adapting to very different conditions from life on Earth's land.

The astronauts, engineers and scientists of NASAs Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) team, are spending 16 days at Aquarius Reef Base in the Florida Keys. The expedition, which started on July 21, will mimic a trip to deep space.

While civilians will not be able to experience the same extreme conditions as NEEMOs aquanauts (and really, would you want to?), they can dive close to the station and get a glimpse at how tough astronaut training can be.