NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab is a massive pool with a full-size replica of the International Space Station inside. It's the closest an astronaut can get to training for zero gravity without leaving earth. NASA extravehicular specialist Art Thomason explains while NASA astronaut Jessica Meir goes for a swim.
The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory is a unique facility that is available at all times for critical training and mission support operations, and is kept in a ready state to support the dynamic nature of human spaceflight. The 6.2 million-gallon pool, an essential tool for spacewalk training, simulates the weightlessness experienced by astronauts in space.
NASA’s has awarded a contract to Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Service of Houston for support of flight crew training and development activities at the Sonny Carter Training Facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Operations Contract (NOC) has a two-year base period, followed by a one-year option and two two-year options. The total potential value of the contract is $154.5 million.
Under the NOC, Raytheon will procure highly-skilled services that include enriched-oxygen breathing gas production (Nitrox), life-support systems for submersed space-suited subjects, spacewalk procedure development and verification, operation of human-rated robotic system, integrated audio and video systems, Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) training and evaluations, and computer network systems that are tied to International Space Station simulations to generate emergency scenarios.