Advanced Technologies

Underwater Facility Is Commercially Afloat

NASA IS NEGOTIATING AN AGREEMENT FOR a Houston, Texas, firm to operate the deactivated Neutral Buoyancy Simulator facility at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The purpose of the facility is to provide a unique, controlled simulation environment for underwater research, development and training for commercial applications.

The firm, Oceaneering Space Systems, is an advanced applied technology company that provides engineering services and hardware to customers who operate in marine, space and other harsh environments. Oceaneering's services and products are often combined to offer complete project solutions and are marketed worldwide to oil and gas companies, government agencies and firms in the telecommunications, aerospace and civil engineering, and construction industries.

The question of commercial viability of the facility—a 75-foot-diameter, 40-foot-deep water tank that holds 1.3 million gallons of water—had been raised prior to and since its July 1, 1997, closing. NASA's requirements are now accommodated at a new, larger tank at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

From 1968 to 1997, NASA performed a wide range of operations in the facility to develop, test and refine techniques and hardware for use in space. The facility provided NASA engineers, scientists and astronauts the closest simulation available on Earth of the low-gravity environment of space. By attaching a system of floats and lead weights to people and objects, engineers simulated weightlessness by making a subject "neutrally buoyant"—neither sinking nor floating.

The Neutral Buoyancy Simulator facility has supported a number of successful space missions. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985, in recognition of its important role in support of the U.S. space program. The simulator was used to evaluate techniques for assembling the International Space Station and to test the Hubble Space Telescope. It also helped in developing procedures that saved Skylab after the spacecraft suffered damage to its sunshield during launch in 1973.

In response to a congressional and Agency request, Marshall issued an announcement seeking industry commercialization plans in December 1997. The agreement calls for the facility to operate at no cost to the government.

For more information, contact Rip Nabors at Marshall Space Flight Center.
Call: 256/544-0688, Fax: 256/544-3151, E-mail: william.h.nabors@msfc.nasa.gov
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Now deactivated, Marshall's Neutral Buoyancy Simulator, used to prepare for on-orbit Hubble Space Telescope operations, is being set up for commercial use.