Developing Science Mission Requirements for a New, Globally-Ranging U.S. Drilling Vessel

 

The National Science Foundation has asked the U.S. Science Support Program for assistance in developing Science Mission Requirements, or SMRs, for a globally-ranging riserless U.S. drilling vessel to address high priority scientific objectives outlined in the 2050 Science Framework: Exploring Earth by Scientific Ocean Drilling. To provide this input, USSSP assembled a steering committee to oversee the canvassing of the U.S. community, the prioritization of objectives within the Framework, and the development of engineering, technical, and laboratory recommendations for a globally-ranging, riserless drilling and coring vessel. These recommendations can then be used by NSF should it enter into a Conceptual Design Process for such a vessel.

 

The SMR effort began with an online community survey, which was initiated on February 1 and remains open. Responses were assessed by the steering committee, which then implemented several virtual forums to refine, discuss, and further prioritize the survey results. Finally, an in-person community workshop was held on May 17-18. The steering committee is now producing a draft report, which will be posted online for review, comments, and suggestions. Only after the community has had the opportunity to comment on the draft report will the final report be submitted to NSF.

SMR Steering Committee

 

Brandon Dugan (Colorado School of Mines, co-chair)

Rebecca Robinson (University of Rhode Island, co-chair)

Stephanie Carr (Hartwick College)

Tim Collett (U.S. Geological Survey)

Justin Dodd (Northern Illinois University)

Patricia Fryer (University of Hawaii)

Patrick Fulton (Cornell University)

Sean Gulick (University of Texas Austin)

Hiroko Kitajima (Texas A&M University)

Anthony Koppers (Oregon State University)

Jay Miller (retired, JOIDES Resolution Science Operator)

Yair Rosenthal (Rutgers University)

Masako Tominaga (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Marta Torres (Oregon State University)

Julia Wellner (University of Houston)

Larry Krissek (Ohio State University, ex-officio)

exp361_derrick

Science Mission Requirements Survey

 

The survey opened on February 1. All survey responses provided by April 1 were used to guide the virtual forums and in-person workshop. Completion of the survey served as one part of the application for attending the in-person workshop.

 

Link to Draft SMR Survey Report

 

 

Virtual Workshops

 

The virtual workshops provided community members with the opportunity to address high priority issues identified by the steering committee in response to the survey results, and/or to contribute additional thoughts if they would not be attending the in-person workshop. Throughout the virtual workshop period, the steering committee continued to aggregate community input from the survey and these online meetings, and hone the agenda for the in-person workshop.

SMR In-Person Workshop

 

The in-person Science Mission Requirements (SMR) Workshop took place on May 17-18, 2022 at the Allegro Royal Sonesta Hotel in Chicago, IL. The workshop built on information gathered by the community SMR survey and discussions held during the series of four topically-focused virtual workshops described above.

SMR_thumb

New: Feedback Requested on Draft SMR Report

 

The steering committee has now produced a draft of the Science Mission Requirements report, which has been posted for community feedback. Please review the draft report and share your feedback before the deadline of September 16, 2022. This process is open to the global scientific ocean drilling community.

Questions? Inquiries about the workshop can be sent to the steering committee co-chairs:

 

Brandon Dugan, Colorado School of Mines (dugan@mines.edu)

Rebecca Robinson, University of Rhode Island (rebecca_r@uri.edu)