ODP Final Technical Report - Ocean Drilling Program - Texas A&M ...

ODP Final Technical ReportODP to conduct a distance education pilotprogram with the ability to reach multipleclassrooms on shore with a broadcast from theship.2000–2003Growing interest in methane gas hydrates ledto improvements in the pressure core samplerand testing of gas hydrate autoclave coringequipment. An infrared scanning camera wasused to locate gas hydrates in uncut wholecores. A drill string acceleration tool, deployablewith any ODP core barrel, facilitatedevaluation of the effectiveness of the drillstring heave compensator. A number of newlogging tools were deployed, including theMWD pulser tool, which enabled real-timetransmission of LWD data, and the resistivityat-the-bittool, which enabled measurementof total gamma counts and 360° electricalresistivity images from seafloor to total depth.LWC methodology, developed jointly by theWireline Services Operator, Schlumberger,and the Science Operator, resulted in the firstever successful LWC operations.The microbiology laboratory facilities wereenhanced with additional permanent equipmentand a separate van for sampling and addingradioactive markers to biological samples.A digital imaging system was installed in thecore laboratory to provide high-resolutionimages of cores for later quantitative analysis.ODP installed a Very Small Aperture Terminal(VSAT) system and began testing its viabilityas a permanent service on the ship. Theinitial test showed immediate and permanentimprovements on ship and shore operationsand enabled completion of a proof of conceptand successful design. The most obvious benefitsof the VSAT service included:• Real-time communications on par withwhat users were accustomed to while onshore.• Standard TCP/IP traffic routing in aconstant manner, instead of on demand,allowing the use of standard local areanetwork/wide area network (LAN/WAN)software, equipment, and utilities to controlmovement of data between ship and shorewithout custom programming.• Enhanced telephone service with multiplephone lines that terminated in a CollegeStation, Texas, local access and transportarea, allowing personnel to pay onlystandard long distance charges outside ofthe 979 area code.• Video conferencing as a viable form ofcommunication.• Enhanced e-mail service, with e-mailtransferred every half hour using filetransfer protocol (ftp), leading todiscussions of reconfiguring the mail system48