Scientists have built a lab 62 feet under the sea, but they aren't using it to explore the ocean

If you want to see how astronauts will mine the Moon, anchor an asteroid, or drive rovers on Mars, then look no further than the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO.

NEEMO is the only undersea research station in the world, and astronaut crews have been training with it ever since the facility was first established in 2001.

Resting on the Atlantic ocean's seafloor, 62 feet below the surface and 3.5 miles off the coastlines of Key Largo, Florida, NEEMO offers astronauts the closest environment to outer space they can get without strapping themselves to a rocket.

When they're under the sea, these astronauts train for NASA's most prestigious upcoming missions - in some sense, you need to learn to be an aquanaut before you can become an astronaut.

Here are some of the incredible things these sea-faring explorers do while they're getting they're feet wet for space.