| History
& Design
|
 History
& Design Conceived in 1970, the MarineLab was originally called the MEDUSA (Midshipmen Engineered and Designed Underwater Studies Apparatus), and provided engineering design and project management experience for several hundred midshippmen over a ten year period. The habitat was developed under the direction of Dr. Neil Monney, at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. Dr. Monney was the Director of the Oceaneering Department of the Naval Academy. Although completed in 1980, the habitat was never placed in operation by the Naval Academy. In 1984 Dr. Monney arranged to have the habitat given to Marine Resources Development Foundation, and it was renamed MarineLab. A suitable location was found within John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, and agreement was reached with the then-Florida Department of Natural Resources for the use of the site. The habitat and support van were transported to Key Largo and emplaced in June, 1984. Operations began in July, 1984 with Chris Olstad as Operations Director. In 1985, the MarineLab habitat, also called the "Classroom in the Sea," was moved to a permanent site at the Foundation's new headquarters in Key Largo, Florida. Today, the facility has dormitories for 100 resident students or researchers, a cafeteria, classrooms, audio/visual rooms, biology laboratories and a fleet of powerboats for excursions to study nearby marine ecosystems. The habitat is in operation to this day. The structure is composed
of a surplus steel water tank, 16 feet long and 8 feet in diameter. There
is a 3 foot diameter observation port at one end of the cylinder, and a
66-inch diameter acrylic observation sphere mounted beneath the cylinder.
This acrylic sphere was the test hull for the US Navy Submersible NEMO,
which was developed by the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory, and was
designed for submerged operations to 100 feet. Access to the sphere is
from inside the laboratory, making it a dry observation area.
Cradle
and Ballast
The main living and laboratory area is separated from the wetroom to control humidity and to maintain a feeling of normal living accommodations. All framing, partitions and shelving are fabricated from metal and have been coated with an epoxy paint system. The walls of the lab are insulated with a closed-cell, pliable foam insulation of the type used in Navy submarines.
Power
Water
Towing and Deployment
Shore Support
Additionally, the support van houses the VHF radio-intercom systems, TV monitors, bunks and a desk for the Operations Director or watch officer, first aid supplies, dive logs, emergency stand-by diving equipment, spare parts, and tools. The umbilical carries: (1) two low pressure air supply hoses (2) communications cables for the intercom, sound-powered phone, and TV camera (3) 110 volt AC power supply (4) 12 volt DC power supply for outside lighting, and (5) hot and cold water supply hoses.
The underwater lab and the support vans will cause minimum impact on the environment. All participants are briefed on the environmental impact prior to each mission. The Operations Director ensures that a site clean-up and inspection are conducted at the completion of each mission. The primary purpose of the MarineLab is to provide the marine science community with an in situ laboratory facility previously unavailable for student participation. Secondary school students, college and university students, and marine scientists have made use of the MarineLab facilities. University level programs provide students and faculty with the use of the facility to conduct marine science and engineering research. Programs cover extensive data collection on water quality, turbidity, and population densities within the lagoon on a continuing basis. A unique research program, conducted by the University of Sioux Falls in Sioux Falls, SD, involves measuring antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria while at depth and compressed. In 1988, the Foundation used its MarineLab habitat to conduct a series of NOAA funded programs designed to study diver physiology under a variety of hyperbaric environments. These studies used Doppler ultrasound technology to detect small nitrogen bubbles in the blood of divers who had spent 12, 24, and 48 hours at depths of 12 - 24 feet in the MarineLab Undersea Laboratory. Several papers and presentations resulted from this study, which provided some new and fascinating information on the no-decompression limit for divers. In 1990, the Foundation developed an undersea diving program with the Oceanographic Ministry of the former Soviet Union. Two Soviet scientist/aquanauts from the P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Soviet Academy of Sciences participated in a NOAA-funded, two week saturation dive study of vital lung capacity in MRDF’s MarineLab habitat. The project signified the first time that Russian scientists had lived in a US undersea habitat. In 1992, NASA joined with
MRDF to simulate the isolation conditions of a long term space
For more information on how to schedule missions with the MarineLab Undersea Laboratory, please call Ginette Hughes at 800-741-1139 or email mrdf@mrdf.org. For technical information on the habitat and/or missions, please contact Operations Director Chris Olstad at chris@mrdf.org.
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A
Monitoring
