LONGUEUIL, September 28, 2004 -- Dr. Dave Williams, Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission commander will lead a 10-day undersea mission, the NASA Extreme Environment Missions Operation or NEEMO 7, at the underwater facility Aquarius, off Key Largo, Florida. The NEEMO 7 mission will take place between October 11-21, 2004 and aims to demonstrate and evaluate new medical diagnostic and therapeutic technologies to enhance the delivery of state-of- the-art medical care in remote and harsh environments. Dr. Williams and his crew will conduct experiments using the latest remote surgical technologies and techniques, guided by Dr. Mehran Anvari, Director of the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery (CMAS) at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton, Ontario. Media are invited to interact with the undersea crew and to film Dr. Anvari while he performs telementoring and telerobotic surgery from the CMAS facilities in Hamilton. Uplinks Live videoconferences with the NEEMO 7 crew inside the Aquarius undersea habitat are offered to Canadian media. Media attending the events in Hamilton and Longueuil will have an opportunity to ask a question in real-time to crewmembers. Media uplink from the habitat to CMAS Location: CMAS 50 Charlton Ave East Hamilton, Ontario Media uplink from the habitat to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Location: Canadian Space Agency 6767 Route de l'Aéroport Longueuil, Quebec Dates and times for each live uplink opportunity will soon be available. Details will be forwarded to those who register. Telementoring and telesurgery Media are also invited to attend Dr. Anvari's four remote medical interventions in real-time. Using two-way telecommunication links, he will guide aquanauts through diagnosis and surgery. Dr. Anvari will also virtually control surgery on a mock patient in the underwater habitat using telerobotic technology from the comfort of his ultra high-tech operating room at CMAS more than 2,454 km away. Because of the medical environment during the surgical procedures, only pre-arranged interviews with CMAS will be available: Telementoring at CMAS Location: CMAS 50 Charlton Ave. East Hamilton, Ontario Dates and times for each live opportunity will soon be available. Details will be forwarded to those who register. Educational Events Oct. 14, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. A one-hour interactive presentation will connect NEEMO 7 aquanauts with students in Hamilton and Toronto to explore the educational aspects of the mission. St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Conference Room 3 Fontbonne Building 50 Charlton Avenue East Hamilton, Ontario Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute 135 Overlea Boulevard North York, Ontario Oct. 16, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Videoconference between Aquarius and Dr. Anvari CSA Astronaut Robert Thirsk and 450 medical students. Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario OTHER INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES NEEMO 7 mission training will take place between October 2-8, the operational mission between Oct. 11-21 and post-mission debriefing is scheduled on Oct. 22 and 23 (these dates may change slightly). Media must contact CMAS or CSA to book interviews in advance. CANADIAN SPOKESPERSONS Crewmembers - Dr. Dave Williams, CSA Astronaut, Mission Commander - Dr. Mehran Anvari, Chief Scientific Officer, Director of CMAS - Dr. Craig McKinley, Canadian Surgeon associated with CMAS On-the-ground Canadian support - Robert Thirsk, CSA Astronaut, back-up for Dave Williams - Louise Beauchamp, CSA Mission Manager - Jean-Marc Comtois, CSA Director, Operational Space Medecine - Patrick Sullivan, CSA Project Manager, Operational Space Medecine REGISTRATION Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Media must register in advance with CMAS or CSA, depending on the location of the event. (All dates mentioned are subject to last minute changes.) For more information on the mission: http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/csa_sectors/human_pre/cao/neemo7/neemo7.asp http://www.cmas.ca/_newsite/page2.html http://www.uncw.edu/aquarius/ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/training/neemo/neemo7/ - 30 - To register and to book an interview, contact: St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Centre for Minimal Access Surgery Jocelyn Garrett Director, Marketing and Community Relations (905) 522-1155, ext. 3408 jgarrett@stjosham.on.ca Canadian Space Agency Julie Simard Media Relations Advisor (450) 926-6651 julie.simard@space.gc.ca
