Sea Trials Transit

Daily Science Report for 4 February 2009

LOCATION: In transit across the Philippines Sea to Guam. Reached West Mariana Basin.

SCIENCE UPDATE: Pre-acceptance and acceptance testing activities continues. Acceptance teams for SampleMaster and WebTabular (data capture and retrieving applications) made significant progress in evaluating the software and providing input to developers. LDEO logging systems , including new wireline heave compensator, ready for deployment and testing. Planning and preparation for Readiness Assessment Committee arrival ongoing.

See detailed transit map

Ship highlight of the day: Rig Floor & Moonpool

The rig floor encompasses the area on the ship where the drill string is assembled and lowered to the seafloor. Several of its components, such as the drawworks, top drive, iron roughneck, rotary table, derrick, and passive heave compensator, have been refurbished. The derrick's height was reduced to ease transit through the Panama Canal.
Rig Floor panorama (Quicktime VR). Click and drag to pan around. Use the Shift and Control keys to zoom in and out.
The moonpool is an opening in the ship's hull that allows the drill string to passes through as it is lowered to the seafloor.

See iodp.tamu.edu/labs/ship.html for more details on the ship's new laboratories.