Keith’s note: The human-occupied submersible Alvin has been officially certified to return to service by WHOI following recent overhaul and testing. Submersibles and oceanic exploration have a long history of intersection and collaboration with space exploration.
- NASA Astronaut Loral O’Hara was a research engineer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution working with deep-ocean scientific research submersibles and robots prior to joining NASA.
- Astronaut Kathy Sullivan completed a dive aboard Alvin to 8,500 feet in 1996. Sullivan later became the first person to travel both to space and to the deepest point in the Earth’s oceans (the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench).
- Astronaut Zena Cardman sailed with the Sea Education Association (SEA) as an assistant engineer. She has participated in multiple deep-sea and Antarctic research expeditions with the Ocean Exploration Trust aboard the E/V Nautilus.
More: Ocean Planet Expeditions: Alvin Submersible Certified To Return To Service
