NASA's next mission is going to be very exciting as a team of professional astronauts working for the space exploration agency is about to to go underwater to prepare for it.

According to the latest update regarding NASA's preparations for its deep space missions, the agency is sending astronauts and scientists to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, TechAeris reports.

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The special training mission is bound to last for 14 days, and it is said to be the 20th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) thus far.

In a statement, NASA said that the astronauts and scientists, along with a group of engineers, are going to stay in the world's only undersea research station, called Aquarius. 

Because it is strategically located in the depths of the water, the Aquarius station provides a very convincing analog for outer space explorations.

Included in the team of 20 NASA experts are astronaut David Coan and engineer Serena Aunon. A Japan Aerospace Exploration expert, named Norishige Kanai, is also joining the team, Vocal Republic has learned.

The primary purpose of NEEMO is to better equip astronauts in their preparations for their deep space missions.

On NEEMO's website, NASA discussed about the mission objectives saying, "The mission will test time delays in communications due to the distance of potential mission destinations. The crew also will assess hardware sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) that allows crew members to read the next step in a procedure without taking their hands or eyes away from the task using a tablet, a smartphone and a head-mounted interface."

All previous undersea missions of NASA have been very successful; hence, experts believe that this upcoming one will also  be as successful.

The new mission is also said to be NASA's major preparation for the 2020 mission to Mars, and, as much as possible, they want their pool of astronauts, scientists and engineers to be able to carry out the mission without communication delays, according to ApexTribune.

The announcement on the 20th NEEMO comes amid the European Space Agency's continued efforts to meld smart technology with space projects for future outer space missions.

TagsNASA, mission, Aquarius, astronauts, Undersea Research