If the territory gets a big increase in students choosing marine science careers in the future, it would not be far fetched to say their visit to the NOAA vessel, Okeanos Explorer, had something to do with it.
Yesterday students and teachers selected for the final tour on the NOAA deep sea research vessel before it leaves our shores got to see and put their hands on the remote operated vehicle with lights that illuminate for miles, that photograph alien looking animals, plant life and the sea bed of the ocean depths that sunlight doesn’t reac
h.
They got to sit in the mission control room which looks like those images from NASA when a shuttle is in orbit.
They asked questions to the scientists and engineers on board the vessel. 
And they got to see maps of the ocean floor of the deep sea ocean around the islands 
of Tutuila, Aunuu, Manu’a and Swains.
Another tour yesterday was for VIP’s and the media.
The lead scientist of the final leg of the Okeanos’ expedition in American Samoa explained how important this mission is to understanding areas of the ocean that have never been explored.
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