@ombialik @vickyveritas I tried to look this up. The big question seems to be what really comes next. "The JR is a 44-year-old vessel...planning for the next generation of scientific ocean drilling must begin in fiscal year 2023 as any new facility will take years to realize. If JR operations do not end until 2028, the resources needed to plan a new program and continue science operations would have significant negative impacts on the entire ocean science research community." Can the Japanese and European vessels fill the gap in the meantime? What funding would be needed to both continue JR operatoins and plan for the the next generation? https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/ocean-drilling-program-odp
@Gaythia @vickyveritas
This had to happen, the JR is too old. I don't think they should keep it going.
This is really a quastion of what comes next, and when. The Europeans do not have their own ship, the MSP is based on case to case operation. The Japanese won't go global. Some of us have been trying to start a disscusion like this a while now. The lost of capasity and capabilities until the new thing will come along will be massive.