Dr. Andrew Abercromby is a scientist and engineer with over two decades of experience at NASA, where he led teams advancing human research, analog missions, spacecraft development, and strategic planning. Andrew has dived beneath the ice of frozen Antarctic lakes and spent two weeks living in the Aquarius undersea habitat as a crew member on NASA’s NEEMO 14 mission.

Tell us about your background

My background as a scientist and engineer, combined with my hands-on experience in firefighting and extreme-environment operations, has shaped my human-centered approach to exploration. Whether designing spacecraft or subsea habitats, I’ve learned that success comes from considering the human as the most critical part of the system at every stage: design, build, test, train, operate.

In addition to my work with DEEP, I’m an Executive Fellow at Harvard Medical School and founded a consulting firm called X-3PO, where my work focuses on practical solutions to protect health and performance in extreme environments.

What’s your role at DEEP?

I’m an Extreme Environments Consultant at DEEP, focused on advancing subsea habitation as a platform for spaceflight and extreme environment research and training. In my final role at NASA, I led the international strategy to protect astronaut health and performance on future Moon and Mars missions. At DEEP, I’m applying that experience to help define and implement a similar strategy in support of our mission: Make Humans Aquatic.

What's your favourite thing about working at DEEP?

The same qualities that drew me to NASA are what make working at DEEP so rewarding – a high-performing team tackling difficult, meaningful challenges that have the potential to make the world a better place.

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