On behalf of the NEEMO-3 crew (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operation), I would like to welcome you aboard as we prepare for and execute our undersea mission. We are honored to be assigned to this crew and also to be able to vicariously take you along on our adventure of exploration and discovery.

On the 9th of July 2002, the NASA crew-Danny, Greg, Jonathan, and I-will begin our stay in the unique underwater habitat called Aquarius, the only facility of its kind in the world. For nine days, we will be living and working in "saturation" in and near Aquarius among the coral reefs off the coast of Florida. During that time we will be isolated to the depths of the ocean and unable to come to the surface.

In planning for the mission we have come to realize that the challenges associated with going to "inner space" are very similar to the challenges of going to outer space. As a result, our experience and lessons-learned will apply directly to future space flights on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). The similarities include the stresses of living in an extreme environment in an enclosed space with minimal comforts, the inability to come home easily, separation and isolation from family, friends, and the outside world, and challenging workloads. Additionally, the long dives we will take outside Aquarius everyday to conduct research and other activities will be a lot like space walking on the ISS. Finally, working with the surface team will also be like mission control working with a crew on the ISS or even on Mars.

We also have realized that the mission in Aquarius transcends the experiences we will have. Like space flight, the NEEMO mission is one small page in the history of human exploration. In addition to outer space, the oceans of our world are still the frontier. People have always wanted to explore beyond what they know. The history of human civilizations is the history of exploration, and currently, much exploration is taking place in space and in the oceans. Our hope is that NEEMO will contribute to that history by furthering the cooperative efforts and synergy among NASA and other agencies, as well as inspiring you and stimulating your interest in the wonders of exploration.

We hope you enjoy this adventure as much as we are!

Jeff Williams

PS …we encourage you to read more about Aquarius and saturation diving at: (http://www.uncwil.edu/nurc/aquarius/)

PSS…we also hope to hear from you during the Webcast on July 17th at: (http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/projects/space/aquarius/2002/index.html).