The ocean covers 70 percent of Earth’s surface, produces at least 50 percent of our oxygen, contains the longest living animals-corals that live up to 5,000 years, and yields medicinal products to fight cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease. Conserving the underwater ecosystem is vital to the planet and human life.
In recognition of National Oceans Month, we highlight Adele Luta‘s participation in a special 24-hour research mission from Jules’ Undersea Lodge, a habitat 22 feet underwater in Key Largo, Florida, as part of Project Neptune 100-a 100-day mission to support marine conservation.
A trained physicist, Adele has been an avid SCUBA diver for over 20 years and works in human space flight as the xEVA Integration Project Manager for Oceaneering Space Systems. She lived alongside distinguished hyperbaric medicine researcher and diving explorer Dr. Joe Dituri, Ph.D., DMT, CDR-US Navy (ret), as he conducted experiments to study the effects of long-term exposure to pressure and other diving-related medical issues. Her time at the underwater habitat reinforced patience, safety, and a continued appreciation for life support systems.
How does the ocean relate to outer space? According to NASA, deep space and the deep sea are not as different as you might think. Conditions in the deep ocean are similar to what scientists expect to find on other planets in our Solar System. The ocean’s extreme environment also allows us to test technology and the human body-even more reason to preserve it.
“We’re monitoring human performance on a daily/weekly basis underwater in a 150-square foot isolated and confined space, similar to the environment astronauts will travel on a mission to Mars,” Joe explains.
“We’re trying to get the answers in the water, where astronauts were trained from day one,” he continues.
“The neutral buoyancy experienced underwater simulates the microgravity in space and is great for training astronauts,” Adele says.
“We need to keep collecting data to understand the human body in different extreme environments. In terms of data, every N helps,” she says.
“After staying in the habitat for 24 hours, I became saturated which means my body was at an equilibrium with the water pressure. Unlike scuba diving, where you can only stay down for certain amount of time, saturation enables you to dive in and out in balance with the water, just like fish.”
Adele describes her experience in the underwater habitat as “magical.” It reaffirmed her commitment to preserving the planet and exploring new worlds in space. “Doing one small thing every day to help our oceans would be life changing. Using coral-safe sunscreen or recycling may seem too small to make a difference, but I promise you it’s not,” she states.
Marine preservation is dependent on us all.
“Create the world you want to live in,” Adele encourages.
As a volunteer conservation SCUBA diver for the Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) since 2018, Adele actively restores coral reefs in the Florida Keys.
Oceaneering remains committed to both the ongoing energy transition and the UN Sustainable Development goals, specifically Goal Number 14 – Life Below Water. Our advanced technologies and services help reduce the carbon footprint of our own operations and those of our customers in the many industries we serve. Learn more at oceaneering.com/sustainability.