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Doors Closing

Gates in the Miraflores Lock of the Panama Canal close behind R/V Neil Armstrong as the ship passed from the Pacific to the Atlantic recently on its inaugural voyage. In one of the oddest quirks of geography, ships actually have to travel west through the canal to get from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Neil Armstrong is currently in Charlotte, S.C., having its scientific instruments installed. In February it is scheduled to begin a series of science verification cruises before arriving in Woods Hole in early April.(Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)