The theme of the week has been to start training with the base assumption that the crew, who are known as Aquanaut Candidates during training, are minimally experienced with the type of dive activities that we'll be expected to perform during saturation. Training started with the basics: buoyancy, navigation, and buddymanship. Each day, new equipment and new skills were added to the training regiment. The first day of training, we were exposed to the twin tank cave diving rig that we will use during the mission. Just getting used to its size, dealing with its multiple valve manifold, and the specifics of operating it seemed like a challenge at first, but soon we were all appreciative of the added level of redundancy and safety that the rig offered over conventional recreational dive gear. After a few days, we were getting used to not just the rig, but also to line reels used for excursions, full facemask regulators, underwater radio communication units, and a whole suite of other special gear. At the same time, we were building competency with the proper procedures for finding a lost excursion line or dive buddy, isolating and shutting down the various stages of our breathing systems to overcome potential gear failures, and sharing air with our dive buddies in the event of a total breathing gear failure. All of the training was intended to get us confident as team and with a comfort level where we knew that even in the event of multiple failures we could get ourselves out of almost any situation. What's more, we were learning to rely on our buddies and to work as a team to accomplish even the simplest of tasks, which are naturally complicated by the aquatic environment, just as they would be in weightlessness.

The training and topside team down here at NURC/UNCW has been very impressive. They are clearly a highly experienced team of individuals who are thoroughly dedicated to their work. Their no-nonsense approach to training gave us a tremendous amount of confidence in their ability, and their attention to detail and safety at every level instilled a high level of trust within us as Aquanauts; a level of trust that will be necessary as we rely on them throughout our saturation mission.

One impression that I'll take away from training week is just how unique and important the Aquarius program is, and what an honor it is to participate in this truly one of-a-kind activity. The abundance and diversity of life below that we saw on each training dive, and having to reluctantly surface after just 30 to 40 minutes, made me yearn to remain, and to truly observe the creatures that inhabit the alien ocean environment. Aquarius provides just that opportunity.