AQUARIUS UNDERSEA LABORATORY: THE NEXT GENERATION.

Abstract

The Aauarius undersea laboratory is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and run by the National Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Aquarius is now supporting saturation science missions off Key Largo, FL. The laboratory, or habitat, was designed and built in the mid-1980s. In partnership with industry, academia and government, the Center plans to upgrade systems, operating protocols, and scientific programs starting in the summer of 1996, when the laboratory will be retrieved from Conch Reef. The most significant operational change is replacement of the Mobile Support Base, a 50 foot by 100 foot life support barge moored above Aauarius, with an unmanned, state-of-the-art, life support and telemetry buoy (LSTB). The buoy will simplify operations, reduce costs, and expand science capabilities.