Posted on 04/18/2007 10:07:57 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian scientist emerged unscathed Wednesday after spending 12 days in an underwater capsule where he had to create his own oxygen with algae and generate electricity on an exercise bike.
Self-confessed "nutcase" Lloyd Godson lived at the bottom of a flooded quarry in a yellow steel capsule measuring just nine square metres to demonstrate how a closed ecological system can work.
Godson admitted suffering mild cabin fever during his time in the underwater tank, which used a revolutionary Israeli-developed "Biocoil" system to generate oxygen from algae soaked with the 27-year-old's urine.
"It's nice to feel the sunshine on the face and the breeze here," Godson said after surfacing from the quarry near Albury, on the New South Wales-Victoria state border.
"It starts to play on your mind a bit after 12 days obviously. You start to get a bit of cabin fever, but you know I handled it surprisingly well.
"I thought it was going to drive me a bit more nuts than it did."
Godson won funding from Australian Geographic magazine for his project, which was designed to provide data on the practicalities and psychological pressures of living in an alien environment.
The marine scientist, who was remotely monitored by a psychologist during his underwater experience, said the information could help future planning for extended missions by submarines or space vessels.
"It's the first time this has been done so it's paving the way for future experiments in this area... like plant-based life-support systems for underwater or space applications, or whatever it may be," he said.
"We got some good data down there so it will be interesting now when we analyse all that and the right people will see it and we'll work on making improvements for the next one."
Ohhh...I bet that smelled "fresh" in that enclosed capsule.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Al Gore sat in a leather recliner in his enormous mansion, inhaling Twinkies and laughing his a$$ off at all the “little people” who are buying his Gore-bull warming bull$hit!
I really hope it was only urine.
Twelve days without “relief”. He must be made of iron!
I’m almost sure the real purpose of this is to use it in government fall out shelters.
Finally, an answer to what to do with enviro-wackos.
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