Open Science
I thought that this site for tracking shipping was interesting, but then I found out that the Glomar Explorer was located in the Gulf of Mexico.
I wondered why it was there, and then I found out it was in "mothballs" - set aside for possible use and minimally maintained - rather than in active service.
Why is the Glomar Explorer in mothballs?
Surely the best thing to do is to donate the Glomar Explorer to an NGO or, better still, a group that was promoting Open Science, in order that it could be put back into useful service again
After all it was only built in 1974 - in order to search for the lost Soviet submarine K-129 - and it is not very old really.
Not like some of the ships in the US Navy - for example, the USS Enterprise (1961) - which is currently on active duty in the Persian Gulf.
Not only that, but how much does it cost to keep the Glomar Explorer in mothballs?
Surely the economic benefits of handing it off to an Open Science group would be enough reason in itself.
Afterwards there would be further economic impact - the ship would have to be taken out of mothballs, refurbished, refitted and crewed - all at the expense of an Open Science group who would raise money through public donations - but which would produce a long-term net income across the economy rather than a long term drain.
Let's not forget - this is a ship that was paid for by the taxpayer - and will continue to be paid for by the taxpayer until it is scrapped.
Why not turn a net loss into a net gain?
Let's not forget the science ...
An NGO or Open Science group who took on the Globar Explorer would have a chance to do deep ocean science - without a penny from the public purse-strings - and possibly generate new findings which could alter our understanding of the deep oceans.
But why stop there?
How much other hi-tech kit remains in moth balls from the Old Cold War?
How many other ships and planes currently costing the taxpayer money could be handed over to Open Science groups?
All of these handovers would make a public purse liabilty into a public purse asset - and possibly provide scientific findings which can benefit the entire community.
How many ICBM's could be modified to launch small payload satellites - for amateurs like AMSAT - or other imaginative, cutting edge science projects - all at low cost?
How many bunkers, buildings and land - which cost money to maintain in mothballs - could be sold off, rented or even *ahem* maybe given back to the public which paid for those developments in the first place?
The bunkers for disaster recovery companies, the barracks leased to artist's colonies, and the land returned to nature and turned into community run natural parks.
Why not?
If it is not needed - if its in mothballs and is costing money solely to be be maintained in a state of non-use - why not return it to the people that paid for it in the first place?
Enquiring minds want to know ....
Tags: science, open science, glomar explorer, public assets, shiptrack
UPDATE: It looks like the Glomar Explorer has been taken out of mothballs and leased to an oil company - Global Santa Fe - which would explain why it was in the Gulf of Mexico and not in mothballs in California ....
UPDATE 2: You can find more information about the Glomar Explorer or the "GSF Explorer", as it is now called, here.(PDF)
