From Deep Sea to Space

"What technology is used on the International Space Station and how are astronauts trained to use it? How are objects like space capsules recovered from the sea? In what kind of projects does the Department of Defense and the Office of Naval Research use deep sea divers, submersibles and robotics? Tonight we'll hear from a man with the first-hand expertise required to answer such intriguing questions.

John Bouvier was not always a Southampton Town Councilman. He attended the University of California,.has a Masters degree in mechanical engineering, as well as numerous certificates in fields related to underwater and space exploration. He began his career as a diver for the energy industry. He was a saturation diver and worked on several deep diving projects for both the public and private sectors, including the Department of Defense and the Office of Naval Research. He joined Deep Ocean Engineering where he worked on the design and deployment of Deep Rover--a one man, one atmosphere, submersible--and Rig Rover--a tethered, remotely operated robotic system for supporting and monitoring offshore oil drilling operations.

Bouvier subsequently joined the Naval Weapons Laboratory and worked for the Grumman Corporation with the Flight Test Group. He was part of the ISS (International Space Station) Support Division in Washington D.C. and was Lead Robotics Engineer, NASA Robotics, working on the FTS (Flight Telerobotic Servicer), JEM (Japanese Experiment Module), and MSS (Mobile Servicing System).

When Bouvier joined Oceaneering Space Systems as General Manager, he developed technologies under contract to NASA to support on-orbit operations and apply lessons learned from underwater operations to Space Station Operations. During his tenure, he managed a team that developed and trained astronauts in the use of on-orbit tools for Hubble, Satellite Servicing Systems and Space Station robotic systems. He developed the RSIS (Robotic Systems Integration Standards), which defines on-orbit robotic systems operations and man-machine interfacing for the International Space Station.

Bouvier also helped with the recovery of the Liberty Bell 7, the Mercury 11 space capsule piloted by astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom and the only US Spacecraft lost at sea from a depth of ~16,000fsw in the South Atlantic, near the Bahamas; it is now on display at the Kansas Cosmosphere, Hutchinson, Kansas.

This event is FREE and will be held from 7:30 – 9:00 PM. No registration is necessary.

For further information or to join our mailing list for event notices, contact: MontaukObservatory@gmail.com" - Montauk Observatory