Blue Abyss Ltd. is set to build the world’s deepest and largest indoor pool in Cornwall, UK. The massive pool will hold 1.5 million ft3 (42,000 m3) of water, equivalent to 168 million cups of tea. It will be the world’s first commercial astronaut training facility and be used to test advanced undersea robotics.
Pools are excellent places for training divers or astronauts in simulated weightlessness and testing nautical technologies. In addition, scientists, engineers, and trainers have used the controlled environment that pools offer for more than 100 years to explore submarine design, try new techniques, and solve complex engineering problems. However, conventional pools have their limitations.
The US$212-million (£150-million) Blue Abyss facility will be constructed in the Aerohub Enterprise Zone at Cornwall Airport Newquay, near Spaceport Cornwall and Goonhilly Earth station. The pool will measure approximately 164 ft (50 m) long and 132 ft (40 m) wide, with a depth of 164 ft (50 m) in its 52-ft-wide (16-m) shaft, a volume equivalent to seventeen Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Blue Abyss is developed by ex-forces diving instructor and management consultant John Vickers. It has the support of British astronaut Major Tim Peake, who is serving on the Blue Abyss Advisory Board.
The 10-acre (4-ha) site, designed by British architect Robin Partington, will include:
- the pool,
- a performance center,
- an astronaut training center,
- hypobaric and hyperbaric chambers,
- a microgravity suite,
- a training center with six classrooms,
- workshops,
- onsite catering,
- and accommodation facilities.
The pool’s support equipment includes:
- a 30-tonne crane,
- a sliding roof,
- facilities to regulate the pool’s lighting, salinity, and temperature and simulate varied currents at different depths.
The pool will be used to simulate underwater caves to train divers and for testing remote-controlled craft. In addition, it will be large enough to hold replicas of modules from the International Space Station and can be used for testing offshore wind turbine installations and undersea robotic craft.
Vickers said:
We’re planning a globally unique facility with a wide range of potential uses that tap into so many of the industries that Cornwall and the Southwest are known for.
Blue Abyss will be a huge research asset for aerospace, offshore energy, underwater robotics, human physiology, defense, leisure, marine industries, and a fantastic education center for children and university students. Cornwall already feels like our natural home, and we’re delighted to receive such a warm response.
Once Cornwall Council approves the planning permission, construction is likely to take about 18 months, with the facility expected to open in 2023.
