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Nasa: Artemis mission astronauts prepare for moonwalk underwater

astronauts-diving.Image source, NASA/JSC

These divers are helping Nasa astronauts prepare for a mission to the Moon.

They're testing some special conditions in a super deep swimming pool called the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) in Texas, in the USA.

This research pool is around 12 metres deep, and allows astronauts to train in an environment that is similar to that of the surface of the Moon.

As part of the tests, divers turned off all the lights, put up black curtains around the pool walls to minimise reflections, and used a powerful underwater lamp.

Why did they train in the dark?

Image source, NASA/Bill Brassard

Nasa is aiming to send people back to the Moon as part of it's Artemis mission in 2025.

In the past, astronauts explored the area near the Moon's equator, which was lit by the light from the Sun.

However, this time round astronauts will be exploring the Moon's south pole, a dark shadowy area where scientists think that there might be water ice.

During their training dives, researchers at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory turned all of the lights in the training pool off to try to prepare astronauts for what it will be like to explore this dark area.

Looks pretty spooky!