Chikyu Hakken (地球発見, Chikyū Hakken), Japanese for "Earth Discovery", is a mission primarily led by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC. The half-billion dollar plus project aims to be the first to drill seven kilometers beneath the seabed and into the Earth's mantle; three times deeper than ever drilled before.
International Collaboration
The Chikyu Hakken mission is a collaborative effort with contributory support of the United States, the European Union, China, and South Korea.
Technology
In order to accomplish feats never before attempted in drilling, many new technologies had to be devised and implemented in the vessel created for the mission, the D/V Chikyu.
The Drilling Vessel Chikyu
The Chikyu is an ocean going vessel devised solely for the Chikyu Hakken mission and was launched on January 18th 2002. The ship is 210 meters long, 38 meters in breadth and 16.2 meters deep with a grosse tonnage of approximately 57,087 tons. The ship has a draft of 9.2 meters and a max cruising speed of 12 knots. Its complement of 150 crew are divided between 100 operators and 50 science personnel.
Key innovations include a GPS system and 6 adjustable azimuth thrusters that enable computer controlled positioning to maintain a stable platform during drilling in deep water. The maximum drilling water depth is declared at 2500 meters and can support up to 10,000 meters of drill.
On July 29, 2005, the vessel was delivered.[1] As of August 2007, it has not yet started on its real drilling expeditions.[2]
Chikyu Hakken in popular culture
The Chikyu Hakken is featured and plays a pivotal role in the 2006 film Nihon Chinbotsu.
References
- ^ Chikyu history page, accessed 2007-08-27
- ^ Inferred from [1] and subsidiary pages.