Ohio suburb could become home to cutting-edge astronaut training facility

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BROOK PARK, Ohio - A small suburb in Ohio could soon be home to a multi-million dollar astronaut training complex.

That’s if the sale of 13 acres of land owned by the city of Brook Park, Ohio, gets sold to Blue Abyss, a company specializing in extreme environment training and research.

The potentially $235 million training complex will be built following the success of a land survey and soil boring test, according to local reports.

Speaking on behalf of Blue Abyss CEO John Vickers at a city council meeting on April 11, Project Manager Thomas Chema of Gateway Consultants, overseeing the deal, said "This U.S.-Based facility will be part of the world’s foremost international network of next generation extreme environmental research and development training facilities and centers."

"We believe this land in Brook Park will be ideal for this cutting-edge project," Chema continued.

The centerpiece of the project will be a 150-foot-deep pool – 17 times larger than any Olympic swimming pool where astronauts and other researchers will train.

The project will also include a 150-room boutique hotel which will be used to accommodate long-term stays by trainees and scientists.

While to some, Ohio may seem like an unlikely location choice for Blue Abyss to build such a project, Northeast Ohio is already home to NASA’s Glenn Research Center which specializes in microgravity research.