During the mission, called NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, participants will practice new long-distance medical techniques that could help keep spacefarers healthy. Doctors thousands of miles away will guide the aquanauts as they perform surgeries on a patient simulator. Doctors also will remotely control robotic instruments to do the work.

The procedures simulated in the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory � an undersea facility operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - may one day be used to respond to emergencies on the International Space Station, the Moon or Mars.

Canadian astronaut Dave Williams will lead the undersea mission beginning April 3 on board Aquarius, accompanied by NASA astronauts Nicole Stott and Ron Garan, and Tim Broderick of the University of Cincinnati. Jim Buckley and Ross Hein of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington will provide engineering support.

The crew members will conduct simulated undersea moonwalks to test concepts for future lunar exploration, during which they will construct an underwater habitat with the help of a remotely operated vehicle, similar to what may be done by the next travelers to the Moon.

The expedition marks the ninth time NASA has sent crews to Aquarius in cooperation with NOAA. Controllers at the Johnson Space Center's exploration planning operations center will simulate the two-second communications delay between Earth and the Moon.

"This mission will be the longest NEEMO and Aquarius mission," said Bill Todd, NEEMO's project manager. "Our partnerships with other agencies and countries should provide a treasure chest of useful medical and exploration operations knowledge."

As part of the demonstration and evaluation of procedures for remote surgery, Mehran Anvari will remotely guide astronauts through diagnosis and surgery and use virtual-reality technology to guide simulated surgery by robots. Anvari is director of the McMaster University Centre for Minimal Access Surgery at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton, Ont.

Similar in size to the space station's living quarters, Aquarius is the world's only permanent underwater habitat and laboratory. The 45-foot long, 13-foot diameter complex is three miles off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It rests about 62 feet beneath the surface.

A surface buoy provides an outlet for power, life support and communications. A shore-based control center monitors the habitat and crew. Aquarius is owned and funded by NOAA, and it is operated by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The NEEMO missions are a cooperative project among NASA, NOAA and the university.

This mission originally was scheduled for October 2005, but was postponed due to hurricanes. Because of the NEEMO and space shuttle mission schedules, Williams is replacing NASA astronaut Lee Morin as commander.

NASA's Digital Learning Network will allow students to conduct videoconferences with Aquarius and conduct experiments of their own design before talking with the aquanauts.

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