>>158548The interior was about the size of a step van. There wasn't quite enough room to stand up for adults but at 12 it fit me nicely. Only two people could fit inside at a time and still have enough room to get around each other to do stuff.
There was a plastic marine toilet like on boats, it just held your waste in a bag full of blue chemicals, it didn't "go" anywhere, so you had to be sure to shut and seal it so the smell didn't spread. The box like rear section is a small separate room with the toilet and the "moon pool", an opening in the floor you could just swim out through. Air pressure kept the water from rising, like a cup turned upside down and pushed into water.
Since I wasn't old enough for scuba certs I had to go down using a hookah rig. It was only 25 feet down but that's a lot deeper in reality than in your imagination. Picture it as multiples of your own height. I had never been that deep underwater before much less slept there. Had to learn to pop my ears several times on the way down to equalize, like on an airplane.
Surfacing into a dry space underwater feels wrong to some primal part of your brain. It thinks you've surfaced but you haven't. Like a magic little clubhouse that defies physics. There were no beds, only two swiveling recliner chairs. They were nicely padded, mercifully, so you could lean back and sleep in them.
Most of what they did was grow lettuce hydroponically to show it could be done. Most of what I did was play a Gameboy I smuggled down there in a waterproof case and fail to fully appreciate the privilege of being there. Wish it was still down there and not sitting in a museum.
James Cameron was one of the people to stay there overnight, although I never got to meet him since my turn was way later than his. Pic related.
