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GOING DEEP
An advanced new research station is being developed to explore the potential for a human settlement under the ocean
Whether it’s to escape environmental collapse or to explore new, unknown territories, the drive to establish human colonies in places other than on Earth has been gaining momentum in recent years. And while proposed bases on the Moon or Mars might get all the headlines, there’s another equally hostile and largely unknown location a lot closer to home that explorers are also looking towards: the bottom of the ocean.
This is by no means a new idea. Starting with French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau in the 1960s, people have been building and spending limited amounts of time in underwater habitats for decades. More recently, NASA has been sending people to the Aquarius Reef Base, a research facility on the ocean floor just off the coast of Florida, since 2001. Located 20m (approx 65ft) below the surface, scientists, engineers and prospective astronauts typically spend 7–14 days in the module.