Support NeoGAF

[Neff]

Who the fuck designed this thing?

Naive, cost-cutting idiots with a romanticised 'think outside the box' approach to engineering. Which can be fine if you're designing a go-kart to screw around with your buddies for a few hours. It's not a great way to attempt to dive to depths military subs aren't even capable of.

 

[jufonuk]

Naive, cost-cutting idiots with a romanticised 'think outside the box' approach to engineering. Which can be fine if you're designing a go-kart to screw around with your buddies for a few hours. It's not a great way to attempt to dive to depths military subs aren't even capable of.

The more I hear or read about this. Also the whole it hasn’t been certified etc. What the fuck is everyone in there thinking ?

 

[winjer]

With all the “Safety Precautions” that were accounted for, chances are the tank they sent them down with wasn’t full.

Or maybe, if they all fart enough, the sub will start to rise....

 

[jufonuk]

Titanic sub live updates: Safety investigations launched into Titan implosion deaths

Experts have raised concerns over the regulation of deep-sea vessels following the Titanic dive tragedy.

www.bbc.com

20 hours of oxygen left. Fucking hell it’s now or never

 

[Methos#1975]

At this point even if found, the recovery process would take longer than they have left

 

[bender]

Titanic sub live updates: Safety investigations launched into Titan implosion deaths

Experts have raised concerns over the regulation of deep-sea vessels following the Titanic dive tragedy.

www.bbc.com

20 hours of oxygen left. Fucking hell it’s now or never

I'm not sure the oxygen capacity had ever been tested and saw speculation that the remaining O2 might be much less.

 

[Apocryphon]

Why not bang more than once every 30 mins? This helps with triangulation.

I wouldn't hold my breath for the bangs being anything honestly. They had the same happen for the USS Thresher, while the later analysis of the ship indicated that it had been destroyed almost instantly as it imploded. Same for the Malaysian plane crash, they detected sounds but ultimately they realized they were the source of it.

“On board the missing craft is a retired French diver, who would know the protocol to alert search teams is to bang for three minutes every half an hour.”

Titanic sub live updates: Safety investigations launched into Titan implosion deaths

Experts have raised concerns over the regulation of deep-sea vessels following the Titanic dive tragedy.

www.bbc.com

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I'm not sure the oxygen capacity had ever been tested and saw speculation that the remaining O2 might be much less.

It depends how nervous they are and how much oxygen they breathe. Again example from scuba divers where panicking and rapidly inhaling oxygen depletes the tank much faster.

 

[bender]

It depends how nervous they are and how much oxygen they breathe. Again example from scuba divers where panicking and rapidly inhaling oxygen depletes the tank much faster.

While that's true, that's not really what I'm referring to. It seems the overall capacity had never been tested and this sea rescue expert speculated that he thought the remaining oxygen was 25 hours when most reports were stating 40. I'll try to find the video.

 

[Kacho]

I wonder if they’ll ever find this thing

 

[Revolutionary]

Iron Lung dev weighs in:



250k to be in a literal nightmare situation

 

[Ownage]

The man with the master plan.

 

[Lukaku's First Touch]

Would it be possible to just put a 4km steel cable down to the titantic and just ride that cable down for future pleasure trips?

Also, they might only have 20h of oxygen left, but they still need to get up and I guess do some decompression?

 

[Apocryphon]

Apparently there is a failsafe that dissolves after 16/17 hours and drops sandbags allowing the craft to surface, but that it can only come up to just underneath the surface… A blue and white vehicle.. just under the surface…

If they didn’t get snagged on something and if the thing didn’t implode… they’re just going to suffocate irrespective of the depth they’re at.

Nightmare fuel indeed.

 

[SiteSeer]

Carbon fiber is immensely powerful.
I used to work at a company that made pressure bottles covered in it. The carbon fiber enhanced its pressurized stability several times over.
However, the material is not impact resistant. Any impact will likely lead to delaminations and/or broken fibers.

if i had to choose between a metal pressure vessel or cf to visit the titanic under a mile or two of water I’d pick metal all day long, just saying’.

 

[Patrick S.]

I've read that that CEO reduced the max diving depth of that "sub" because of material fatigue, but then he put it back up. The viewport bullseye is certified up to 1400m of depth, not 4000. The CEO refused to pay the bill for a stronger unit. And the max dive depth of the hull is reduced with every cycle, but it started with 4000m or something which isn't even deep enough to reach the depth of the Titanic, and has already done several cycles. And the hand layered carbon fiber can have imperfections and air pockets that debilitate the hull. Then you have the titanium "endcaps" they basically superglued to the carbon fiber hull, and now you have thee different materials (carbon fiber, titanium, bonding agent) that will have completely different rates of compression as reaction to the water pressure and temperature. I think the hull probably burst where it's glued to the titanium ring, and the banging that has been heard is a hoax. This whole thing is more incompetent than that Indian guy who died when his home built helicopter's tail rotor separated and flew into his head.

 

[Roxkis_ii]

You know this is looking like a tragic situation, which is sad, but the memes are hilarious!

 

[SJRB]

At some point they would legit consider killing one or more people to reduce oxygen consumption and increase chance of survival.

 

[Patrick S.]

At some point they would legit consider killing one or more people to reduce oxygen consumption and increase chance of survival.

WTF no one would do this. Well, Russians maybe.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Reminds me of the last time I was in Ohio.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I’ll bet anything they didn’t think this would happen when they signed that waiver.

No offense intended but that sentence might be the most insane thing I'll read this week.

 

[Alx]

WTF no one would do this. Well, Russians maybe.

Sacrificing stranded people in a lifeboat to increase the chances of survival of the group is (was) actually an old practice at sea. Sure it used to be more about food and water (and cannibalism) than oxygen, but it's definitely something that could arise in such a situation. Technically a rational decision too, when you reckon that you have either 20h of oxygen for five or 100h for one, you can decide if it's better to die together or to have one person survive. Hence all the "drawing the short straw" tales.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

You know this is looking like a tragic situation, which is sad, but the memes are hilarious!

Fuck me! Lol

 

[Buggy Loop]

WTF no one would do this.

Seriously? Stuck inside a can with 4 other peoples? If i have my son with me and our best chance is to get extra time for rescue? CO2 kicking in and you know you'll be fucked if you keep status quo? I think you don't realize what panic and survival instincts can do..

 

[Mistake]

Sacrificing stranded people in a lifeboat to increase the chances of survival of the group is (was) actually an old practice at sea. Sure it used to be more about food and water (and cannibalism) than oxygen, but it's definitely something that could arise in such a situation. Technically a rational decision too, when you reckon that you have either 20h of oxygen for five or 100h for one, you can decide if it's better to die together or to have one person survive. Hence all the "drawing the short straw" tales.

I wonder what risk there is being in such close proximity to dead bodies for that long

 

[Patrick S.]

Sacrificing stranded people in a lifeboat to increase the chances of survival of the group is (was) actually an old practice at sea. Sure it used to be more about food and water (and cannibalism) than oxygen, but it's definitely something that could arise in such a situation. Technically a rational decision too, when you reckon that you have either 20h of oxygen for five or 100h for one, you can decide if it's better to die together or to have one person survive. Hence all the "drawing the short straw" tales.

I'd rather die than kill someone, but maybe that's just me... Also these aren't soldiers or professional seamen but regular, selfish people. Would you just let someone kill you so they could live?

In any case, we both don't know what we'd do in this situation, and I hope we never find out

 

[chromhound]

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Reminds me of this…

 

[Kamina]

if i had to choose between a metal pressure vessel or cf to visit the titanic under a mile or two of water I’d pick metal all day long, just saying’.

Most Metal will fold like a coke can at those pressures, but i get it. I have a hard time to trust those brittle fibers too.
In the end those depths are not made for humans.

 

[SaintALia]

Not only a game controller but a shitty Logitech controller at that: at 250k a trip they could have at least splurged on an Xbox game pad if they wanted maximum PC compatibility let alone an elite: oh yeah and no fucking toilet would make it a deal breaker for me if they aren’t dead already they probably are wishing for it about now. I feel bad for them especially the kid but I’ve got a dark sense of humor.

I wondered about this.

About the only thing I can come up with is:

A) Their software. Whatever they're using to pilot is maybe pretty old and is reliant on dinput as opposed to xinput. Logitech F710 is probably the best in class when it comes to that. I don't think you'd want a wired PC controller with you. You're better off with a failing 2.GHZ connection, which may chip in and out, but not actually fail, than a wired controller that may randomly fail(like my F310 did back in the day).

B) They also wanted to make it seem 'user friendly' to entice people to sign up.

C) The pilot may want to move around and do things and thus a wire is problematic. Not sure about this one as it's pretty cramped, so I'd have to see just how tours are conducted when they're down there.

I could be totally wrong of course, but if they had the F310 with them, they'd be similarly fucked(your wire/stick/usb port is gonna eventually fail on that thing).

There's always the option of building a proper control station, but given how cheap the setup seems and (B), and probably not willing to train the crew to pilot the control station, well I dunno.



I really would not be surprised they were using old open source software as the base to pilot that thing.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

if i had to choose between a metal pressure vessel or cf to visit the titanic under a mile or two of water I’d pick metal all day long, just saying’.

No matter what it is if there is a single point of failure you die long before your brain registers what is happening, the crushing forces of the pressure are insane.

 

[TrumpacShakur]

https://twitter.com/TitanicSub

 

[Revoh]

 

[Sleepwalker]

They are dead and will never be found.

Or its an elaborate plot to fake their deaths. Either way dead.

 

[SJRB]

 

[Patrick S.]

 

[Nydius]

No matter what it is if there is a single point of failure you die long before your brain registers what is happening, the crushing forces of the pressure are insane.

Yep. I'd recommend people go watch the old episode of Mythbusters where the build team were testing the depressurization of old diving bell suits. The quickness with which the pig turned into a pile of goop inside the helm once they removed the external equalizing pressure was astonishing. That was only 300 feet. If this thing failed at the depths it was diving to, the inhabitants wouldn't have time to react. They'd just be instant goop.

 

[Sophist]

According to Gizmodo, NASA helped develop the Titan.

NASA Linked to Missing Titanic Submersible

The space agency worked with OceanGate to build the carbon fiber pressure vessel at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

gizmodo.com

thanks obama?

 

[SiteSeer]

No matter what it is if there is a single point of failure you die long before your brain registers what is happening, the crushing forces of the pressure are insane.

yeah somewhere i read 6000 psi at titanic's depths, that's like a ford f150 solely resting on your big toe.

as the other poster said, even if they have 20 hours of oxygen left the rescue effort still hasn't located them and even if they did at this moment just getting to them and figuring out a way to resurface them would take longer than whatever air they have remaining. i'm surprised no one in the media has talked about that, everything i've read so far is talking about rescue like the actual rescuers haven't figured out it was a recovery mission from the start.

 

[jason10mm]

Even if true, that is just SAVAGE.

Give it a few months before weaponizing this event please.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

 

[jason10mm]

https://twitter.com/TitanicSub

It is important to remember that oxygen deprivation does not work like a Hollywood countdown. Everyones tolerance for hypoxia is unique. And it is usually the CO2 toxicity that kills first, not lack of O2. Presumably they have CO2 scrubbers in that can though, so lack of O2 may be the limiting factor (or temperature if the heating failed, or water, or who knows).

 

[Buggy Loop]

Yep. I'd recommend people go watch the old episode of Mythbusters where the build team were testing the depressurization of old diving bell suits. The quickness with which the pig turned into a pile of goop inside the helm once they removed the external equalizing pressure was astonishing. That was only 300 feet. If this thing failed at the depths it was diving to, the inhabitants wouldn't have time to react. They'd just be instant goop.

In this case it’s the opposite of the diving bell incident, as a diving bell has greater internal pressure than the surrounding ambient, which for the Byford Dolphin incident, meant that any open crack would suck the peoples from inside to outside, turned them to mist basically, gory stuff.

But it’s not any prettier for the sub. The pressure outside is much stronger (thus the shell).

The implosion of a submersible is 36 ms give or take. What happens in that moment is the equivalent of what happens in an engine piston. An average car piston is 30ms. Peoples in would be compressed pretty much like fuel by a piston. You turn to goo in 36ms. The air is compressed so much that it ignites somewhere during that period.

Crazy stuff

 

[ManaByte]

It is important to remember that oxygen deprivation does not work like a Hollywood countdown. Everyones tolerance for hypoxia is unique. And it is usually the CO2 toxicity that kills first, not lack of O2. Presumably they have CO2 scrubbers in that can though, so lack of O2 may be the limiting factor (or temperature if the heating failed, or water, or who knows).

No fun allowed

 

[Pegasus Actual]

What even is this timeline?

 

[diffusionx]

Strong Darwin Award 2023 contenders.

I love the part where the dude basically says submarines are way too complicated and he brought everything down to one button. And then proceeds to show how he got parts for his submarine from a camping store. And then pulls out a fucking Logitech 20-year-old xbox controller and proudly says he controls the entire submarine with that thing.

And people still paid 250,000 to get on board with this guy.

Rich people are really weird. Like they have so much money they are normally totally insulated from the consequences of their actions and behavior, and they also believe, because they are rich, that they can manifest reality and bend it to their will. They’re not normal. Look at Bill Gates and his dictator of the world shtick. Just a bizarre guy.

so yea, to you, going miles under the water using an ancient Logitech game pad (Logitech can’t even make mice that are reliable to use while clicking) is just insane… but you’re not rich.

 

[Badlucktroll]

James Cameron weighs in

MSN

 

[diffusionx]

What even is this timeline?

”I really want to feel what my stepdad is feeling, running out of oxygen at the bottom of the ocean… and the only way I can think to do that is for you to sit on my face for an extended period”

I dunno there’s worse pick up lines out there

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

I’m getting Jimmy from GTA V vibes.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

I really would not be surprised they were using old open source software as the base to pilot that thing.

That got me thinking: what if they are running this thing on Windows 11? Like, what if the software closed because Windows tried to update duing the dive, or blue-screened? Imagine piloting the sub then you see this: