ESA Astronauts Moonwalk Under the Sea to Brush their Exploration Skills

The European Space Agency (ESA) made its astronaut moonwalk at the depth of Mediterranean Sea as part of a training module "Apollo 11 Under The Sea", on Sept.4, according to a Space.com report.

The astronaut, Jean-François Clervoy, was trained underwater by Hervé Stevenin, an astronaut instructor. Clervoy was instructed to imitate the roles of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first ones to land on the moon, and recreate the Apollo 11 mission.

 The buoyancy of the astronaut was changed to one-sixth of the gravity in order to replicate the gravity on the moon. This feat was accomplished by Comex, a French deep-diving company. The aquanauts then collected soil samples from the seabed using tools similar to the ones crewmen Armstrong and Aldrin used on their historic mission to moon. Both, the trainee and the instructor, wore a Comex-designed Gandolfi spacewalk training suit.

Clervoy is a NASA astronaut who flew three space missions aboard a presently retired space shuttle. Stevenin, on the other hand, is an experienced instructor for ESA and a spacewalk training lead at the European Astronaut Centre, located in Germany.

The acquanaut was monitored by a mission control, aboard the Comex research vessel, Minibex.

This training is the first step by the ESA toward improving the European expertise in spacewalking under partial gravity. This was a practice run for the astronomer for future trips to the moon and other celestial bodies.

Click here to get a glimpse of the aquanaut learning to walk under water.