Aquanauts practice space exploration off Florida Keys

Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano is famous for having water leak into his helmet during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station, a malfunction that threatened to drown him if the spacewalk had not quickly been aborted.

That scare didn't stop the NASA astronaut from seizing the chance to become an aquanaut on the latest NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations expedition, joining a four-person crew that submerged to a habitat six miles off the coast of Key Largo on July 20.

The Aquarius Reef Base operated by Florida International University is known as an analog for space exploration, a place where certain space-like conditions can be simulated without leaving the planet.

The 20th NEEMO mission, scheduled to last two weeks, planned to test tools and techniques astronauts might use while exploring a piece of an asteroid, or working in the vicinity of the moon or Mars.

The crew can use varying levels of buoyancy to simulate full or partial weightlessness.

"This is the most accurate analog I've ever been in," Parmitano told NASA TV in an interview posted on Facebook. "Just because of the conditions and because of the habitat itself, is incredibly accurate. It really feels like you are on a different planet."

Parmitano, of the European Space Agency, led a crew including NASA astronaut Serena Aunon, engineer David Coan of NASA's spacewalking office, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Norishige Kanai.

Among the tools they tested were augmented reality goggles that could enable a remote operator to guide a crew member through a medical procedure.

They also practiced communication delays of as much as 10 minutes.

"It turns out that voice communication is very ineffective at that point," said Parmitano. "Instead we've been using text messages with attached files, videos, photos, to try to make that experience the clearest possible. We have found out that when we have a lot of delay, the astronauts need to have a lot of independence in coming up with a plan in case something goes not as planned."

Parmitano, more than most astronauts, knows what that feels like.

X-37B landing at KSC? Not so fast

Buzz built briefly Friday about an imminent landing on Kennedy Space Center's shuttle runway of the Air Force's X-37B space plane.

Internal KSC TV channels showed landing forecasts for the unpiloted, semi-secret mini-shuttle, which is widely expected to land in Florida since the program is consolidating its operations in two former shuttle orbiter hangars.

Three previous missions touched down in California. They also flew in space for increasingly long periods of time, with the last approaching two years.

Since the fourth Orbital Test Vehicle mission just launched in May, a landing so soon would have been a big surprise.

In the end, it appeared the landing preparations were part of a training exercise. In any event, a number of the forecasted landing conditions on Friday were colored red, or "no go."

KSC's runway has not seen a vehicle return there from space since Atlantis and its crew touched down four years ago to end NASA's shuttle program.

AEHF is live

The Air Force this week declared that its upgraded satellite system designed to ensure secure communications even during nuclear war is officially up and running, nearly two years after the third Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite launched from Cape Canaveral.

"We're proud to deliver an unparalleled leap forward in protected communications capability for both our nation's senior leaders and also our warfighters in the field," said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base.

The first three AEHF spacecraft, each worth roughly $2 billion, launched from the Cape on United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets in 2010, 2012 and 2013. The next three are expected to launch in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Mission teams managed to get the first AEHF satellite to its orbit more than 22,000 miles over the equator despite a premature shutdown by its primary thrusters.

"When a commander issues orders, they need to know their troops will get the information quickly and without fear of interruption or interception," said Mark Calassa, vice president of Protected Communication Systems and AEHF program manager for Lockheed Martin, the satellites' builder. "Compared to anything else on orbit, AEHF gives an unmatched level of protection and has five times the speed of legacy protected communication systems."

Lockheed Martin said declaration of the constellation's so-called "initial operational capability" followed six months of simulations including "harrowing battlefield environments and cyberattacks."

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.