Photo of the Week: Props to You

One of research vessel Sally Ride's propellers looms in front of the ship as it sits in drydock in Alameda, Calif. for upgrades in this photo taken by computer tech Jon Meyer.

The refit includes reconfiguring the decks to support on-deck container storage, adding an enclosed hangar for CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth) rosettes, and installing 700,000 pounds of permanent ballast -- a step that required removing the shafts and propellers, which is why the prop is not attached to the ship in Meyer's photo.

"Sally Ride will soon be ready to get to work, with a full schedule already set for the rest of the year," Melissa Miller said on the ship's official blog. "Up first is a research cruise scheduled out of Newport, Oregon, and then the ship will return to San Diego just in time for the summer CalCOFI trip."

See this blog entry for additional photos and more information about the upgrades.

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