What is Aquarius made of?

The external envelope (main body) of Aquarius is made of 3/4" thick steel. This is the pressure hull that divides the entry lock and main lock. A 3/8" thick layer of insulation is located on the outer hull of Aquarius.

Aquarius consists of three main compartments: main lock, entry lock and wet porch. The two locks are part of the 33 foot long, 9 foot diameter steel tube. The wet porch is a 7 foot long x 10 foot wide by 8 foot high steel box. They connect together by watertight doors. The wet porch is open to the sea through its floor.

What things are taken into consideration when building such a structure?

First, where will the underwater laboratory operate? Water depth determines the thickness of the walls and viewports, the type of fittings for connections and plumbing, and much more. Depth also determines what kind of breathing gas system is required. Most people are surprised to learn that you can only breathe normal air down to a certain depth before it becomes toxic. Both nitrogen and oxygen cause problems when the pressure gets too high.

Aquarius consists of more systems them just the underwater laboratory on the bottom. The habitat itself, when full of air, floats! Therefore, it is attached to a 120 ton baseplate that serves to anchor it to the bottom. There is also a buoy, called the LSB (Life Support Buoy, that is moored above Aquarius. The LSB contains generators (for power) and compressors (for air). The buoy is connected to the habitat by an umbilical - a set of wires and hoses wrapped together in a special protective cover. The buoy also has radios that can send signals from Aquarius to the mission control - over nine miles away in Key Largo, Florida.

Another important consideration is related to want you want to accomplish using an underwater laboratory. In other words, why build an underwater habitat? In the past forty years, over sixty underwater laboratories were built, some were larger and some were smaller than Aquarius. Aquarius was designed to be more than just an underwater habitat for living. It is an underwater laboratory with wet and dry lab space, electrical and computer capabilities, and a comfortable living space for six people that allows the scientists to focus on their research. The Aquarius program is less about what happens inside the underwater laboratory. Instead, the value of Aquarius is defined by the work scientists do outside Aquarius, on the reef and in the surrounding ocean.