The somewhat iconic oceanographic research vessel FLIP (FLoating Instrument Platform) was innovative, and it served science for a long time. I seem to remember pictures of it in science books back to my high school days, and that goes back more than just a few years.
But FLIP had aged, and it was officially retired, and it appeared for awhile that it was going to be sold and turned into scrap metal.
But that changed recently.
Flipping Ship FLIP Freed from Fateful Trip
"FLIP, formerly owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, was in service from 1962 to 2017. The vessel can flip from a long, horizontal platform to a vertical one. Submerging 90 meters (300 feet) of its baseball bat–shaped hull provided a remarkably stable platform from which scientific instruments could gather data without the interference of ocean waves. Over FLIP’s lifetime as a research vessel, it hosted scientists working in a wide array of scientific fields, from meteorology to geophysics to physical oceanography."
"News of FLIP’s retirement was a disappointment to a scientific community that cherished the vessel, Ortiz-Suslow said. Leadership at DEEP shared the sentiment, said Tom Hutton, mission planning and execution lead at DEEP. The company decided that obtaining FLIP aligned with DEEP’s plans to develop ocean research technology and intervened, purchasing FLIP and towing it away from the scrapyard in Mexico."
So it's not over for FLIP yet. Get ready for FLIP2.
The video provided below shows FLIP flipping.
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