fish | john h hanzl (author)

My personal experience with getting the bends – (hint: it sucks!)

October 29, 2015 · by John Hanzl

Diving Orange Grove cave system

On July 4th I was five days into some intensive dive training in the caves of north central Florida. Unfortunately that particular day had a less-than-desirable outcome: I ended up getting fairly seriously bent.

Long story short, I ended up getting transported to Southern Georgia Medical Center where I spent five days alternating between the ICU and a hyperbaric chamber. My wife Amy had to fly down to drive me the 1,300 miles home, after which I spent six weeks recovering. Just this past Friday I had a heart procedure that I hope is the last step in my recovery.

Though this was an intensely personal experience, I am sharing it because not only is it a somewhat interesting story, but I think it could be a some benefit to others who share a passion for diving… So if you want to hear about what happened, and why, check out this presentation I recently gave to the staff at the New England Aquarium:

I’m going to the test firing of the world’s most powerful solid rocket booster – what?

February 27, 2015 · by John Hanzl

The human race is going to Mars – that’s an amazing statement all to itself. As a matter of fact, it’s so cool I’m going to say it again…

The human race is going to MARS!

Sure, maybe not this year or next, but it’s going to happen and it’s going to happen within our lives. After years and years of what perhaps could be called the “winter of spaceflight advancement”, we are looking at the spring of humanity’s next great push. And the greatest thing? It’s just now becoming tangible – there are things you can touch, and see, and experience. There’s Orion – the “crew vehicle”, and then there’s SLS…

Space Launch System – aka SLS.

The Space Launch System is the next generation rocket, and it’s massive. It hearkens back to the days of the mighty Saturn V that hurtled astronauts to the moon – big and massive and powerful.

But the SLS has a much more ambitious goal in its sights – Mars. So it has to be that much more ambitious in its scope.

Part of the SLS assembly is a pair of solid rocket boosters. Think space shuttle boosters, but bigger and badder. These guys are the heavy lifters, the sledgehammers of the system if you will. And they’re being built and tested right now.

That’s where I come in. I’ve been invited by NASA to be one of a small number of “social media content providers” to attend the test firing of one of the boosters at ATK Aerospace Group’s test facilities in Promontory, Utah on March 11th. And I’ll be granted a tour of ATK Aerospace’s assembly facility as well, along with a press conference that will be aired live on NASA TV the day before the test. It’s an honor to be selected for this experience – and one that most applicants weren’t picked for – and I’ll be doing my best to relay the experience to you guys…

Below is a short video of the building and firing of one of these boosters. I’m pretty excited to get the opportunity to experience it first hand!

So stay tuned and see what I have to share about rockets.

Freekin rockets!

My chat with Pod Diver Radio on diver communications

February 22, 2015 · by John Hanzl

A really cool dive that happens every day at the New England Aquarium is the 2:30 Diver Communications Dive. Not only do we provide visitors with the unique opportunity to participate in a question and answer session with a diver, but we share what the diver sees, broadcasting it in high definition onto two giant screens at the top of the Giant Ocean Tank.

(Here’s a quick video showing the system at work – I was the comms diver that day)

I was tasked to develop this system when the exhibit was closed for a major, year long, renovation in 2013-2014. A task that definitely presented many interesting challenges and required some rather unique solutions.

Joe Cocozza of Pod Diver Radio what going to stop by the Aquarium a few weeks ago to talk to me about our diver communications program, but as luck would have it, a blizzard shut down the Aquarium and I ended up doing the interview over the phone. Such is the life in Boston these days!

And, towards the end of the interview he did manage to get in a few questions about my writing, my rEvo rebreather, and the sequel to Out of Hell’s Kitchen – entitled Into the Devil’s Throat… (as if you didn’t know!)

So sit back, relax, pop open your favorite bevie, and have a listen…

An insider’s look at a snow day at the Aquarium

February 14, 2015 · by John Hanzl

Ever wonder what happens when the weather turns really (really) crappy and your favorite aquarium is forced to close (ahem – which of course you are all thinking, “New England Aquarium!”)? What about what happens to all the critters on Christmas or New Years or Thanksgiving? Well, if you’ve ever lost sleep worrying about who’s taking care of those aquatic dwellers, worry no more.

And to prove it, I got together with Boston.com to show you what happens at NEAq when snowmageddon strikes. Check out the story here…

(and be sure to check out the video in the article – especially if you want to know what Chris – my co-aquarist – can’t find…!)

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/2015/02/10/behind-the-scenes-snow-day-the-new-england-aquarium/SGvhcLw1I4xH7jLZt7cWHI/story.html