DEep Submergence Science Committee
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Carriage House – Quissett Campus
June 13-14, 2012
A pdf version of these minutes are available at: <201206desmi.pdf>.
Meeting Minutes
Appendices:
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III |
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IV |
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V |
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VI |
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VII |
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VIII |
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IX |
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X |
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XI |
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XII |
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XIII |
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XIV |
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XV |
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XVI |
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XVII |
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XVIII |
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XIX |
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XX |
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XXI |
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XXII |
Action Items:
Global Vessel Mid-Life Refits – NSF and ONR have provided a set of recommendations regarding fleet operations and plans for 2013 and beyond. Included in these recommendations is a plan to conduct mid-life refits on the Navy owned Global Class vessels. The refits would extend the life of these ships. The UNOLS Non-Operator subcommittee is welcoming feedback on the agency recommendations. Global vessels are the primary support platforms for NDSF vehicles. DESSC can provide feedback on the recommendation.
DESSC/OOSC - Identify a DESSC Liaison to OOSC (Pete Girguis)
Vehicle Upgrades - Post the Jason and Sentry Vehicle Upgrade slides and send the link to Matt, Carl and Andy. (A. DeSilva) In turn, WHOI will inform science users about the upgrades.
Sentry Review – DESSC members are asked to review WHOIÕs Sentry Year-1 report (and associated documents) along with the user debrief summaries for Sentry. Comments are requested by June 29th. Pete Girguis and Annette DeSilva will consolidate the responses.
NDSF Data Management Spreadsheet – DESSC is asked to review the data management spreadsheet drafted by Vicki Ferrini and Andy Maffei. Feedback is requested by June 27th.
DESSC Early Career Program – Plan an Early Career Workshop that will take place on the Saturday before the DESSC Meeting. Planning should include consideration of the:
DESSC Meeting Filming
and/or Webinar
– Explore logistics, requirements, and pricing for filming and
broadcasting via webinar future DESSC meetings. (A. DeSilva with assistance
from Vicki Ferrini).
Alvin Science Verification Cruise – Cruise Planning and Announcement:
NDSF User Debrief Process:
Expand the DESSC Community
Email List:
DESSC Outreach Tools – Conversation with DESSC committee about how to facilitate outreach activities.
OOSC White Paper - Pete Girguis will request that the OOSC prepare a white paper regarding the role of deep submergence vehicles in OOI.
DESSC Webpage – The UNOLS Office is redesigning the UNOLS/DESSC web pages. Content and design suggestions are requested. Vicki Ferrini offered to provide advice to the UNOLS Office.
Wednesday, June
13, 2012 – Carriage House
Introductory Remarks, Meeting Logistics, and Introductions - Peter
Girguis, DESSC Chair, opened the meeting.
The agenda is included as Appendix I. Participants introduced themselves. The
participant list is includes as Appendix II.
National Science Foundation (NSF) – Brian Midson provided the NSF report. In personnel news:
NSF Budget Update:
Discussion:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – Catalina Martinez provided the NOAA report. Her slides are included as Appendix III.
Catalina reviewed the 2012 Okeanos Explorer Field Season. By the end of next year the vessel will have completed significant mapping.
In July 2012, an exploration and testing cruise is planned using Sentry from Okeanos Explorer. Cindy Van Dover and Carl Kaiser are the PIs. This is the first telepresence cruise that will use the AUV Sentry.
Catalina discussed NOAAÕs Okeanos Explorer Mapping Internship
Program. There were over 120
applicants in 2012 for 16 open positions.
Other topics that were reported on included:
Full details are provided in CatalinaÕs slides.
The FY13 PresidentÕs Budget for NOAA is $19.7M for OER. It eliminates funding for NURP.
Discussion:
á John Wiltshire – In Hawaii, Senator Inuai worked with Senator Cochran in Mississippi to get Hawaii and MississippiÕs NURP funds back into the budget. The remainder of NURP is not budgeted. HURL Pisces vehicles have been very active. They will do work for the Navy to look at munitions with a month of diving. Hawaii is also bringing a 6000m ROV on-line built by DOER. They have had a very close relationship with the Chinese submersible group. They are doing a 7000m dive now in MariannaÕs trench. The Pisces and Chinese sub are very similar.
á Dan Fornari – How will the ROV be operated? John Wiltshire – The ROV will be run with HURL personnel, but it is owned by UHawaii.
á John Wiltshire – The ROV will be operated from KOK and Kilo Moana.
á Andy Bowen – Are there any ITAR issues working with the Chinese? John Wiltshire – The Chinese cannot take anything. Annette DeSilva – Dennis Nixon has been tasked to look at this issue on a Fleet-wide basis.
á Brian Midson – How will the ROV be supported? John Wiltshire – U. Hawaii will use the vehicle and will establish a day-rate for other use.
á Catalina Martinez – NOAAÕs Aquarius system is being considered for use by private groups.
Office of Naval Research (ONR) - Tim Schnoor provided the ONR report via teleconference. The Navy doesnÕt have plans to use the submersibles, but they have an interest in supporting the vehicles and support ships. Frank Herr was in China to attend acoustics meetings. He visited an institution that is interested in putting sonars on the Chinese subs.
UNOLS Report – Bruce Corliss, UNOLS Chair, provided the UNOLS report. His slides are included as Appendix IV.
As in previous years, UNOLS has established a subcommittee of non-ship operator representatives to review agency recommendation regarding fleet operations for the next calendar year. This year is challenging because the recommendation include retiring Cape Hatteras in 2013 and Pt Sur in 2014. Additionally, ONR continues to plan for retirement of R/V Knorr and R/V Melville in conjunction with requirements for crew training prior to deliveries of Ocean Class AGORs 27 and 28. Nominally this will result in Knorr coming off line by April 2014, and Melville off line by December 2014. Depending on scheduling requirements and demands in 2014, retirements may take place sooner.
ONR has initiated scoping studies for mid-life refit of the Global AGOR 23 Class of vessels, to include R/V Thompson, R/V Revelle and R/V Atlantis. Depending on availability of funds, these refits could start as early as mid-2014 with Thompson, and could extend the Expected Service Life of the vessels to 40 years. ONR has requested UNOLS input on this effort.
Bruce reported on some of UNOLSÕ outreach activities. UNOLS is in the second year of its Early Career Scientist Chief Scientist Training Program. This year the training program will take place on New Horizon in November.
UNOLS is kicking off a UNOLS Speaker Series to highlight UNOLS ships and oceanographic research. Non-UNOLS colleges and universities will be targeted, particularly institutions with under-represented minorities in marine sciences. To minimize cost, a regional approach is being taken. The regional coordinators and other details are included in BruceÕs slides.
Bruce reviewed the UNOLS Ocean Observing Science Committee membership and charge. Pete Girguis and Larry Atkinson can work together to identify a DESSC/OOSC liaison.
Discussion:
á Dan Fornari – The phrase Òunder utilizationÓ was used in regard to the agency recommendations on Fleet operations. He feels it the phrase should be Òunder funded.Ó It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Is anyone thinking about the current and future scientists who need to go to sea? The ships are underfunded. Are we properly promoting the ships?
á Bruce Corliss – The Council agrees with the points that Dan made. Dan – Is there something that the community can do? Etc. Is there a way to mobilize the community?
á Bruce Corliss – The community can voice concern over the core science budget issue.
á Chris German – NDSF uses the five Global vessels; two of these ships are projected to go out of service in the 2014 time-frame. We need to think about the future. The new Ocean Class Research Vessels (OCRVs) will have 24 berths as opposed to 36 bunks.
á Annette DeSilva – The OCRV design drawings and presentation are on the UNOLS website.
á The DESSC was encouraged to provide a recommendation to the Non-op group regarding the need for Global Mid-life refits.
á Dan Fornari – Will NOAAÕs Ron Brown get a mid-life refit? Bruce Corliss – Yes and we will try to coordinate down times, etc. with NOAA.
á Bruce – thanked DESSC for all of their efforts.
National Deep
Submergence Facility (NDSF) OperatorÕs Report:
Introductory Remarks and
Announcements - Rob Munier provided the WHOI
report. His slides are included as
Appendix
V. Rob reviewed personnel
changes and the 2012 NDSF operations for the first part of the year. See the slides for details.
Discussion:
á
Private R/Vs – There are
a few opportunities for use of private R/Vs. This might be an area for filling in gaps for the NDSF
vehicles. Examples of private
vessels include the R/V Falker
and R/V Aleutia.
á
Bruce Corliss cautioned that
use of private R/Vs could have an impact on UNOLS operations. Rob – They understand this from a
WHOI perspective. The private work
is often for higher risk items.
á
Brian Midson – NSF is
drafting a policy on use of third party vessels. Costs, safety, and data management will be addressed by the
policy.
NDSF Vehicle Operations
Summary - Rick Chandler provided the report. His slides are included as Appendix
VI.
á
Jason completed 3 cruises in the first half of 2012 and
collected 314 hours of data.
Support ships included Atlantis and Merian.
á
Sentry had a major upgrade and completed two cruises in
2012 with 343 km of survey.
Support ships included Thompson and Melville.
á
The
slides include details about the operation highlights.
Deep Submergence Scheduling: 2012 and
Beyond
- Eric Benway reviewed the Jason
and Sentry 2012 schedules and the
outlook for 2013 and beyond. His
slides are included as Appendix VII.
á
The Jason 2012 schedule includes 172 days
á
The Sentry 2012 schedule includes 86 days
á
Atlantis
will have a shipyard period at the beginning of 2013. There are 133 funded Alvin
days in 2013.
á
Jason
– There are 175 funded days (cruise days, not dives) in
2013.
á
Sentry
has 104 funded days in 2013.
á
In 2014 and 2015 there arenÕt a
lot of requests in the system.
Discussion:
á
Pete Girguis - Did you capture
the withdrawn STRS? Eric Benway –
No, but he will capture them in the future. Pete – Many of these will be resubmitted.
á
George Luther – Is it
possible to add ship days if they are funded? Brian Midson – If the message comes from the program
manager it is a much stronger case.
Break
NDSF Vehicle Debrief Interviews:
Feedback from Jason cruises - Wiebke Ziebis provided the report. Her slides are included as Appendix VIII and include a lot of detail. Nine cruises are included in the report.
Some of the feedback received included:
á Pre-cruise planning went well.
á Jason and Atlantis web sites need updating.
á There were some shipÕs agent problems.
á Jason experienced repeated ground faults on both manipulators
á Launch and Recovery System (LARS) has some initial issues.
á Ship related issues: They lost dynamic positioning on 6 separate occasions.
á Image quality – some felt that the pilot camera was better than the PI camera.
Feedback from Sentry cruises - Vicki Ferrini provided the report. Her slides are included as Appendix IX and include a lot of detail. Three Sentry cruises are included in the report and all are post refit.
Some of the feedback received included:
Recommendations included that engineering dives are critical. There should be a training schedule for the operational team.
OperatorÕs Response to NDSF Debriefs - Andy Bowen provided the WHOI response to the NDSF Debriefs for Jason and Sentry. Details of the response are included in Appendix X.
Discussion followed:
á Marsh Youngbluth – What is the status of lighting,
imaging and the monitor? Matt Heintz
– He will discuss the lighting and imaging in his report. As for the monitors, he is not really
sure what this is.
á Marsh Youngbluth – That is the status of the control
box? Andy Bowen – There is
no plan to change the box. Matt Heinz
– Last year they revamped the box.
The box has a lot of functions.
Chris German – It is a lot better, but it still is tricky.
Upgrades to National
Deep Submergence Facility
Jason
upgrades, incl. LARS -
Matt Heintz provided the report and his slides are included as Appendix
XI.
The Jason upgrades include:
¥
Additional
LED lights
¥
Another
Mini Zeus, making 3 total
¥
Additional
pan & tilt, making 3 total
¥
New
strobes, 2 circuits simultaneous down and fwd imaging cameras on one dive
¥
New
CTD with O2, additional sensor ports
¥
New
LARS crane and docking head (DH) fully integrated
– Greater Jason air weight
– 25% increase in Jason payload
(syntactic foam added)
– Greater flexibility of staffing
– DH arrests swing & sway and rotates
– Less tether handling - They have been
going with a team of nine and may reduce further if needed.
¥
Active
Heave Comp (AHC) Winch – Matt provided the specifications for the new
system. The winch is scheduled for
delivery in January 2013.
¥
A
video of an ROV cage with and without Active Heave system was presented.
Matt showed an
image with new options for lighting and imaging configuration.
Discussion:
á
Pete
Girguis – A 1000 lb payload was mentioned. Matt – They picked this payload for a depth of 6000m. At RSN, the payload can be higher due
to the shallower water depth.
á
Pete
Girguis - The LED lighting worked very well. Matt – These come in arrays of 3. They are lighter. There is a weight and power savings and
they are less expensive. The
swing-arm feature was very handy.
á
Pete
Girguis – In terms of getting Medea
closer to bottom, can they do this?
Matt – With AHC, they can use shorter tethers so this will
help.
á
Pete
Girguis – The Jason Expedition
Leaders have been doing a good job announcing that if there are few changes to
the basket configuration, a 4-hour turnaround time may be possible.
á
George
Luther – These upgrades are not posted yet. Matt – The slides will be posted on the UNOLS site and
he can send them to the chief scientists.
á
Brian
Midson – what is JasonÕs
capability to handle the OOI secondary cable? Matt – With AHC, the RSN will want to connect small
cables from the array to sensors. NDSF
considered the OOI needs when acquiring the AHC system. They can put the MBARI winch on Medea. There is also a possibility of launching Jason from Atlantis and then using the
AHC and the old Jason crane to launch
another system. At Aloha, they
removed the Jason sled and put on the
cable handling system.
Sentry upgrades, includes CHIRP &
Sidescan - Carl Kaiser
provided the report. His slides
are included as Appendix XII.
á
In
Personnel news:
¯ Expedition Leader – There are three
expedition leaders and there will be a four by August 2012 (Dana Yoerger, Carl
Kaiser, James Kinsey, and Michael Jakuba (needs 1
cruise to be up to speed).
¯ Mechanical Engineers – There are
two and will have three by July 2012.
¯ Electrical Engineers - Now one, with two planned by the end
of 2013
¯ Data Managers – Dana Yoerger, James
Kinsey, and Carl Kaiser are all able to do most pieces. A contractor will join the group by
fall 2012.
¯ Documentation – large investments
are required and critical for interchangeability.
á
The
Sidescan is up and running. It is
nearly automated. For a 20 hour
dive, they are now able to process the data in 1 hour.
á
Deep
Water operational problems were experienced with the actuators and navigation. They are working on a long term
replacement for the actuators.
Testing of the navigation system is on-going.
á
Other
upgrade areas that Carl reviewed included (see slides for details):
¯ Strobe &
Camera
¯ Cradle
¯ Diet
¯ Thrusters &
Fairings
¯ Timing & Powering
Navigation - James Kinsey provided the report. His slides include great detail and are
included as Appendix XIII.
James reviewed
the goals and progress:
¥
Merge
existing nav post-processing software into a single
standardized software package for use on all vehicles. PROGRESS: Completed – now working
with a common software base.
¥
Improved
LBL and USBL post-processing tools.
PROGRESS: USBL tools
developed; need to complete LBL tools.
¥
Automated
fusing of post-processed navigation data and standard science sensor data.
PROGRESS: Completed for most Sentry
standard data products. Used on
the 2011 Tominaga/Tivey cruise.
¥ Ensure the source of the post-processed nav data is kept with the renavigated
data. PROGRESS: Completed on Sentry data
products; tested on Jason
¥
Improved
documentation. PROGRESS: In progress.
¥
Automate
the process as much as possible.
PROGRESS: Sentry
pipeline is largely automated.
Prototyped on Jason data in Jan 2012.
¥
A
parallel effort is the porting of the navigation code used on Sentry and
Nereus to Jason and the Alvin upgrade. PROGRESS: Significant work by Howland and Suman.
Engineering testing on Jason in Jan 2012.
The list of upcoming
navigation work items is included in the slides.
Lunch Break
Jason
HDTV camera study - Chris
German presented for Jon Howland.
The slides are included as Appendix XIV.
The new Jason HDTV has received good reviews in
general, but there were two specific Òshort-comingÓ issues raised in recent debriefs :
á
camera
is light hungry in the far-field
á
camera
does not zoom in as far as biologists would like
Both
issues were raised in comparison to the new mini-Zeus HD camera now installed
for the pilotsÕ use. An
evaluation was conducted during the Jan 2012 engineering dive time after
2nd tranche of new LED lights had been added to Jason.
Conclusions
á
The
Science Camera was clearly superior over the Pilot Camera in terms of imaging
quality & aesthetics when in the Òsweet spotÓ range (important for science communication,
post-cruise outreach efforts)
á
The
Pilot Camera could see more detail in the periphery of the field view, on a
like-for-like basis with the same lighting when zoomed all the way out - used
extensively for this in subsequent reconnaissance work
á
The
Pilot Camera was also more useful when zoomed all the way in to study the fine
detail of (vent) organisms – used to help select between two species of
(retracted) tube-worm during subsequent sampling operations
The
implications for the next Alvin Science Camera are:
á
InSite
have demonstrated added capabilities (maximum zoom, lower light demand) in
their Mini-Zeus camera that would be valuable for scientists
á
NDSF
is now in discussions with this company to procure a new Science Camera 2 for Alvin
that will build on the same optical capabilities as the Mini-Zeus, with a 12 MPixel still imaging capability as well as HD video
á
For Alvin
this camera will be equipped with a Perspex hemispherical dome to ensure it is
suitable for use on an HOV.
á
There
will be future consideration as to whether it will also be desirable to procure
a similar camera (but with a glass dome) for Jason (e.g. to retire the
DSC)
Discussion:
á
Marsh
Youngbluth – there is rumor that a 20 MPixel
will be available soon. Should we
wait until these are available?
Chris – he thinks that InSite is
offering them the latest.
á
Dan Fornari
– Is the 12 MPixel on the chip. Pete Girguis – He thinks that it
is local on the chip.
á
Marsh
– Is the lighting configured properly. The images look like they are center
focused. Matt Heintz – The LEDs are arrays of 3.
Previously it has been one light.
Now with the LEDs, there is much greater
spread. It is much better balanced
now with 18 lights.
á
Marsh
– Has anyone been interested in using red light? Matt Heintz – Many years ago they
used red lights.
á
Marsh
– What can you put on swing arms.
Matt – Now that the LED lights are so much smaller, it might be
able to be used with other gear.
This can be reexamined.
á
Pete
Girguis – With the mini ZeusÕ and LEDs, you had
a real idea of what you are looking at.
In terms of a camera that allows you to do your work, the Mini ZeusÕ
were fabulous. There is a lot of
light on the vehicle now.
á
Marsh
– When looking at natural behavior, can you dim the light? Matt – With smart placement of
the arrays, you can turn certain arrays away. Dimming LEDs is tricky.
NDSF Data Management Review – A report on NDSF data management issues and the priorities for the path forward was provided by Andy Maffei and Vicki Ferrini. Their slides are included as Appendix XV.
Andy began the report. As part of the NSF data management policy, there is move towards data reuse.
Vicki reviewed the slides. The motivation for the project is:
á Community feedback re: data quality, delivery and storage
á Online documentation describing data products available from the NDSF
á Compliance with 2011 NSF Data Policy and increasing demands on PIs w.r.t. data documentation and submission
á Efficiencies gained by documenting metadata describing data acquisition which are critical to data preservation and re-use
á General goal of achieving cross-NDSF consistency w.r.t. data management and data products wherever possible, within funding constraints.
á Help identifying future data directions for NDSF data efforts based on the needs of its user community
The approach for the data review is:
(1) Document and compare NDSF Data Products & Documentation for each vehicle (including metadata, documentation, data quality, & at-sea data planning, processing & delivery)
(2) Identify potential synergies with related ongoing community data efforts (e.g. R2R, MAC, SESAR, MGDS, etc) especially w.r.t. best practices for QA/QC, data documentation, etc.
(3) Consider the long-term fate of data (e.g. archive, rescue, access, etc).
(4) Prepare a report – summarize findings and recommendations
Phase I will focus on the at-sea processing pipeline and QC. Vicki displayed the draft NDSF Data Deliverable Spreadsheet. She requested DESSC feedback.
In summary of the Data Products
Review, the next steps are to:
á Finalize Data Products Spreadsheet and Summary
á Review from perspective of:
o At-sea science userÕs operational needs
o ScientistÕs data reporting requirements**
o NDSF Operational Team members
á Look for Synergies
á Long-term fate of data
á Potential Budget Implications
Vicki presented the project proposed timeline. The goal is to produce a Final Report in advance of the fall DESSC meeting.
Discussion:
á Pete Girguis thanked Andy and Vicki for all their hard work.
á Dan Fornari – Dave Fisichella should be kept abreast of this project.
á Andy Bowen – The data systems on Alvin will be very different than in the past and will be more similar to the other vehicles.
á James Kinsey – This will be very helpful. One interface for all vehicles is useful. There are synergisms.
á Andy Bowen – What about the human element? The systems are quite different in the way they gather data. It might be sensible to address this. The expertise differs between Sentry and Alvin.
á Vicki – A line can be added to the spreadsheet.
á Andy Maffei – In looking at the spreadsheet, the columns are the data products.
á Pete Girguis – In processing data/Reson data, the science party is ultimately responsible for the processing. There are two options; either bring more people on the cruise or have the processing staff on-shore.
á Carl Kaison – In the Ocean Exploration (OE) program, they will be using the model of sending the Multibeam to shore and Dana will process it and send it back to the ship. Catalina Martinez – This is the way that OE operates.
á James Kinsey – On the Van Damm cruise site, they produced a map quickly, but they would not use it for publications.
á Vicki – For her mapping cruise, she would want to know quickly if there are gaps in her data and she also needs to know which areas she should return to.
á Carl – Back to PeteÕs question – you would need a link that is higher than FBB/HighSeasNet
á Dan Fornari – what is being done now, is so much more refined from what was being done 5 to 10 years ago. We should be able to produce maps that will allow you to identify areas quickly that you should return to.
á Andy – NDSF has to pay a lot of attention to NSFÕs data policy. We need to determine if the data collected should be available to the general community. If we are looking at the broader community, then we need to look at other outside solicitations.
á Dan Fornari – we need to be conscience of both – you should be able to get the metadata for the broader community. Vicki – Most of the pieces of data that she wants; she knows how to find. As part of this project – they need to inform the community of how to get the metadata and the data availability.
á Chris German – R2R alleviates the data responsibilities from the PIs by asking the operators to provide the data.
á Vicki – We canÕt make all of the data the highest quality all of the time. A biologist does not have the need for high quality Multibeam data as compared to a geologist.
á Marsh – There has been no mention of the past. There is a lot of information that is locked up. Is NDSF data available? Dan Fornari – It is available and some is relatively good. They have had some funding for the archives. It is really tough to get money for this sort of project.
á Marsh – If someone wants to look for a specific species, can they? Dan – To varying degrees. Vicki – It is not a relationship database.
á Catalina Martinez – If they donÕt archive/type stamp in real-time, it is so difficult to go back in time to get this done.
á John Wiltshire – At HURL they employ a person to put the data into the database.
á Dan – The framegrab has been extremely useful
á Vicki – The frame-grabbers on the cruises are the least educated on the cruise. With some training, this could be very useful.
á Brian Midson – he is glad that this was couched in terms of the NSF data policy, but a reminder that we need to consider the broader use. There isnÕt a ÒnewÓ NDSF data policy. In 2004, Ocean Sciences established an ocean sciences data policy and it was revised in 2011. The requirement for proposals to include a data management plan was added. Getting the data to the National data repositories is important.
á Vicki – What we are working towards is to hopefully provide the community a means and directions for them to meet their data management plans.
á Andy Maffei – He would like some feedback from DESSC on whether he and Vicki are following the right path.
Break
Alvin Upgrade Project – Kurt Uetz provided the Alvin Upgrade project update. His slides are included as Appendix XVI.
Kurt reviewed the project. In personnel changes, Don Peters is the project Chief Engineer and managing the engineering effort.
There has been a recent descoping effort. The project is suspending ABS classification of the vehicle. This reduces risk in the project related to double classification. The vehicle will continue the Navy certification process. The personnel sphere and LARS will also continue the ABS classification process.
As part of the NAVSEA Certification, there are weekly program and
technical meetings to review certification progress and expedite resolution of
issues. On June 8th, there
was a Hydrostatic Test Readiness Review.
NSF reviewed and authorized pressure testing of the sphere. The sphere is being transported to
Annapolis, Maryland and the personnel
Sphere Hydrostatic Test is planned to start on June 20th with
delivery to WHOI on July 6th.
Kurt showed images of the sphere with the strain gauges. He showed images of the hyrostatic test facility. There will be two unofficial dives. There will be 2 10-hour tests to 6,500 and then 6,800. For ABS there will be a final test to 8125m. It will be held for a minute or two.
A new capability is the expanded manipulator reach of the vehicle. Another new capability is imaging. He showed the Vehicle layout, the high-bay and the vehicle mock-up sphere. The benches have been modified to be lounge chairs.
Status of Major Components:
á Penetrators: The fiber optic units have been delivered and are in testing. The electrical units have been fabricated and are preparing for testing.
á Foam: All foam has been purchased, tested, and accepted. The shaping is in process with several pieces delivered.
á Frame: the front section has been removed and fabrication of the new section is started.
á The Launch and Recovery System (LARS) design will have an increased lift capability to 50,000 pounds. The A-Frame upgrade was completed March 2011
á Completion of the LARS integration and the ABS classify and NAVSEA certify are all this weekend.
á WHOI is committed to be ready for sea trials in Dec 2012.
Challenges ahead include:
á Frame Modifications: Proceeding with fabrication in parallel with NAVSEA reviews.
á Vehicle NAVSEA Certification: Completing assembly and testing concurrent with certifying the vehicle for manned operations
á R/V Atlantis LARS - Classify through ABS and certify with NAVSEA in time to support November dock trials
á Budget - Any schedule delay will jeopardize completion within budget
Discussion
á Pete – the lighting is an area where the technology may have advanced since purchase. Kurt Deep Sea Power and Light can deliver lights in a month that will meet specs and have improved reliability.
á Pete – Should you go to sea trials with existing lights and hold off on purchase for 6 months to get the latest product. Pat Hickey – They can do this, but it might not be worthwhile. There will be 30 lights.
á Kurt – There are 30 lights total, but they will get 4 lights originally to test them out. Then they will get the remaining 26.
á Susan – the gap between sea trials and the science verification cruise will be useful to put new things on the vehicle.
á Girguis – what will happen to the mock-up? Hickey – In development of other systems to meet the 6500m, the frame and sphere mock-ups will come in handy.
á Marsh – Why did it go from bench to lounge chair? Pat – It is more ergonomic. Kurt – you will have better access to the viewports and less potential damage to the viewports.