Deep Space Diving

To prepare for the rigors of space, astronauts just as often take to the waters below as they do to the skies above. This particular practice session took place in September on a faux seafloor at the facilities of Comex (Compagnie Maritime d???Expertises), a leading engineering and deepsea diving company, based in Marseille, France. The aim is to let European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts get used to moving around - and in this case, using a handheld computer to drive a robotic vehicle - despite the bulkiness and limited freedom of motion of the Gandolfi test suit developed by Comex and ESA.