Ocean Habitats as Analogs for Space Habitats

Since the earliest days of manned space ventures, the search for authentic analogs of space exploration have been investigated. The primary purpose for these analogs has been to reduce risk and cost. There are many similarities between operational space habitats and ocean habitats and these can be significantly exploited to provide an efficient terrestrial based model for testing space bound systems and crews. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration embarked on such a seafloor analog to the space station in 1969 called Tektite. Tektite investigated a single mission component, crew psychology. But the range of valid components is considerably wider ranging, including analogous system design, parallel operational functionality and mission compatibility.