FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform) is the US Navy's oldest, and most unusual, research vessel. FLIP's unique design is like a baseball bat, and it allows it to be the only vessel in the world that can operate both horizontally and vertically.
Scientific instruments are built sideways into the wall so that as the buoy flips, the instruments flip into a usable position as well. Most rooms on FLIP have two doors; one to use when horizontal, and the other when FLIP is vertical. Bunk beds, toilets, and stoves are built on swivels and gimbals, so they will turn along with the buoy, but the things that would not rotate so well, like sinks, are built both horizontally and vertically in each room.
FLIP was created in 1962 by scientists Dr. Fred Fisher and Dr. Fred Spiess, who wanted a more stable space than a normal research ship to study wave forms. FLIP can operate equally well in shallow water or depths of over 2,000 fathoms.
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