Surprisingly STEM: Dive Specialist | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Arielle Valdez shares her experience as a Dive Operation Specialist at NASA, training astronauts for spacewalks in a 40-foot-deep pool.

Key Insights

• 👨‍🚀 The NASA Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory is a 40-foot-deep pool used for training astronauts in a simulated space environment.
• 🧑‍🚀 Dive Operation Specialists like Arielle Valdez assist astronauts in practicing spacewalk tasks and ensure their safety during training.
• 😷 Becoming a Dive Operation Specialist at NASA requires a diverse background, including experience in diving, medical training, and engineering.
• 💦 The job offers opportunities to work with diverse and talented individuals from around the world.
• 🤗 Training in STEM fields can open doors to unexpected career paths, even within organizations like NASA.
• 🎟️ Safety is of utmost importance in the training and mission operations at NASA.
• 👨‍🚀 The neutral buoyancy pool is crucial for astronauts to experience and practice the challenges of working in space.

Transcript

When I saw that this job was an opportunity that I could be a part of, I was so excited, because I could be in an environment with warm water, clear visibility, and a mock-up International Space Station in one area, which is like diving the biggest shipwreck you've ever seen. I never thought in a million years I would end up at NASA, and I'm so ... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: What is Arielle Valdez's role as a Dive Operation Specialist at NASA?

Arielle Valdez provides training support for astronauts planning to go to the International Space Station and future lunar operations. She assists them in practicing spacewalk tasks in a mock-up pool.

Q: Why do astronauts train in the pool at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory?

Astronauts train in the pool because it closely simulates the conditions they would experience during a spacewalk. It allows them to practice tasks, replacements, and movements they would perform in space.

Q: What are the different roles of divers during a test run at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory?

During a test run, divers can serve as safety divers, camera divers, or utility divers. Safety divers provide direct support to the astronauts, camera divers capture a live feed of the mission, and utility divers take care of the mock-ups and tools.

Q: How did Arielle Valdez end up working at NASA as a Dive Operation Specialist?

Arielle's path to NASA started as a sound engineer, then she became a certified scuba instructor and pursued emergency medical training. After completing commercial diving school, she applied for a position at NASA and was hired.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Arielle Valdez is a Dive Operation Specialist at the NASA Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, providing training support for astronauts going to the International Space Station and future lunar operations.

• The pool where Arielle works is a 40-foot-deep, 6.2-million-gallon mock-up of the International Space Station and lunar sand area.

• She assists astronauts in practicing spacewalk tasks, such as translating, working on different tasks, and replacing equipment, to ensure they are proficient in a similar environment to space.