PC divers work comms with astronaut

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – Service members with the Panama City Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) were on the verge of completing an 11-day, 350-plus foot deep saturation dive Jan. 28. But, before they exit the sealed chambers, the group is working with French Astronaut Thomas Pesquet on the International Space Station. Their mission was to test lines of communication despite 55,000 gallons of water, and space, separating them. Pesquet is a saturation diver. Since Day 1 of the mission, the divers used a new communication system to test the divers' voices. From under sea to outer space, that's how far the NEDU is willing to test the equipment. The divers are scheduled to have another call with NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston on Jan. 31, two days before the saturation dive is completed. (Source: WMBB 01/28/17)