If you want to see how astronauts will mine the Moon, anchor an asteroid, or drive rovers on Mars, then look no further than the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO.
NEEMO is the only undersea research station in the world, and astronaut crews have been training with it ever since the facility was first established in 2001.
Resting on the Atlantic ocean's seafloor, 62 feet below the surface and 3.5 miles off the coastlines of Key Largo, Florida, NEEMO offers astronauts the closest environment to outer space they can get without strapping themselves to a rocket.
When they're under the sea, these astronauts train for NASA's most prestigious upcoming missions — in some sense, you need to learn to be an aquanaut before you can become an astronaut.
Here are some of the incredible things these sea-faring explorers do while they're getting they're feet wet for space.
First thing's first: The aquanauts have to get to their undersea station. They do this, naturally, by plunging into the Atlantic.
As they approach their new home, each astronaut crew will see the main base, called Aquarius, loom into view through the clear-blue waters.
Aquarius only has enough room to accommodate up to 7 people at a time and each mission lasts no longer than 3 weeks. Shown here are four members of the NEEMO 10 crew who stayed from July 22 through 28 in 2006.
This photo shows NEEMO 10 crewmembers they reach Aquarius. From front to back are Karen Kohanowich, deputy director of NOAA's Undersea Research Program, Silver Spring, Md.; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut/aquanaut Koichi Wakata; and NASA astronaut/aquanauts Karen L. Nyberg and Andrew J. Feustel.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider