After nearly 40 years, the JOIDES Resolution (JR) will quit drilling into Earth's oceanic crust for scientific research at the end of 2024, four years earlier than expected. NSF announced the ship’s retirement this past March. Despite the vessel’s continued contributions to exploring Earth’s history and climate, the US and its 20 international partners can no longer sustain the ship’s increasing costs for drilling operations, says Jim McManus, director of NSF’s division of ocean sciences. The unexpected decision leaves scientists who rely on ocean drilling wondering what is next for their research, careers, and community.
The JR got its start in 1985 under the US Ocean Drilling Program, which became the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program in 2003 and then the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) in 2013. The JR is one of three ocean drilling projects operating under the IODP. The others are Japan’s Chikyu and the European...
