Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 06:27
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Early Spring Plankton and Benthos

What will heappen if the ship just turns off and dosn't come back on? What are you looking for?

thank you

                                                                                                     Cole    Smith
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 09:55

Deanna Wheeler

Cole- Shipdriver Thomas will answer your question.What a great question! What happens to a boat when the power goes out?
Before I tell you the answer, I want to explain a few things about the ship. Our ship has very large generators that power us. This power is used for everything from driving the ship to charging our iPods. Because it is so important we keep that power going, we have a very smart computer that double and triple checks everything going on on the ship so it knows way ahead of time if we might loose power. If that computer broke somehow, we have two back up generators. Both generators are pretty small, so one only powers the very basic things the ship needs, like driving. The other generator is just for giving that really smart computer power. So, let's say the worst happens and we did loose power anyway (it has happened before). Well, the most important thing is that we still float, but have very little control over where we are going. So we have a special team that prepares the anchor for letting go in case we need to stop. The anchor kind of acts like an emergency brake. Then we make sure we let all of the other ships in the area know that we are having trouble and can't control where we are going. That way they know to stay out of our way. Then we just wait for all of the engineers onboard to figure out what the problem is, and fix it as best as they can. The one time I saw this happen, the ship was only without power for a few minutes. Lucky for us! Great question and thanks for asking!
-LTJG Tasha Thomas

Sat, 03/14/2009 - 11:27

calla ziebell

that was an interesting answer that the driver wrote and I want to ask a few qustions to ask you (mom). One question is "how does that ship float when that ship is that HEAVY?" Dads question was " once the engine stops how far or long does it take to stop?" also both of us wanted to ask you " if somebody fell off the boat how long would it take to turn around to get to them and rescue them?" mom I really WISH we could send you letters but we can not because you are in the middle of the Berring Sea!!!!!!I WISH that I could see you because I so so so so so so miss you!!!!!!

Tue, 03/24/2009 - 13:48

Deanna Wheeler

Those were good questions. The boat is big and heavy but not heavy enough to sink as not all of the space is taken up inside with heavy, dense object. There is a lot of space filled with air that helps keep the ship floating. To turn the ship around takes about 3 minutes in the best of conditions.