Titanic Tour Sub Missing. Remarks/Questions.

[sablebrush52]

That sounds highly inadvisable. Just trying to illustrate that I think it's absurd to say that these people deserved what happened to them simply because they took a risk that they deemed to be acceptable, which unfortunately did not pay off.

I agree with that, but I wonder how much they were fully informed of the technical risks. I also don't share the schadenfreude that's been expressed in media because they were rich. I could think of far more beneficial ways to drop $250,000, but that's just me.

 

[sablebrush52]

Why Rush is dead, is because he gambled on using innovative materials and methods to build a five person private revenue generating submersible.

And also because he ignored concerns about the viability of the approach that were voiced by one of his engineers, instead, firing him.

My father was an engineer who created, among many other things, the foil air bearing which revolutionized the use of turbines, and nothing was allowed that wasn't exhaustively tested.

Pop would fly gliders and shoot rapids, but he was thoroughly trained and careful in his pursuit of these and other pleasures. He took risks, but they were well calculated risks.

 

[renfield]

I’ve had the painful experience of working for enthusiastic, egotistical morons who believed that regulations and the laws of physics didn’t apply to them.

Physics always wins.

 

[JOHN72]

Runway looks kinda short...

Yes Romaso. Besides the runway is on a slope, when landing, the planes were real junk with wings. You could see the pilots working, as they had no hatch, not even a wool curtain.

 

[Jaylotw]

That surprised me the most.

I saw an estimate of ~2240° F for a brief instant inside the sub when it imploded.

 

[Jaylotw]

And also because he ignored concerns about the viability of the approach that were voiced by one of his engineers, instead, firing him.

My father was an engineer who created, among many other things, the foil air bearing which revolutionized the use of turbines, and nothing was allowed that wasn't exhaustively tested.

Pop would fly gliders and shoot rapids, but he was thoroughly trained and careful in his pursuit of these and other pleasures. He took risks, but they were well calculated risks.

It wasn't just his fired engineer who expressed concerns...it was literally everyone in the submersible business telling him he was creating a death trap and pleading with him not to send Titan so deep.

Really cool about your dad, too!

 

[sablebrush52]

Oceangate did a pretty good job of hiding the various lawsuits and stuff, but one father/son duo backed out for safety concerns after doing some research. Rush tried to convince them it was safe...they would've been on the trip which was Titan's last...

Rush was clearly a fanatical true believer, with a fanatic's obsession with evangelizing that he's right, from ignoring and silencing opposition, to making himself the singular exception to any rules, to aggressively seeking to convert potential followers. He lacked the authority of a Church or State, but the mindset is the same.

Meanwhile, OceanGate is attempting to make all of this somehow normal so that they can continue to operate and make money. And let's not forget, "innovate". OceanGate need to be shut down.

Otherwise, this will signal to others that they can "take shortcuts" with impunity.

I've had a couple of near death experiences thanks to another's taking undisclosed "shortcuts" so I'm decided on this point.

 

[georged]

I saw an estimate of ~2240° F for a brief instant inside the sub when it imploded.

It's the same "holy shit!" sort of thing that's responsible for why a meteorite or spacecraft gets hot when entering the Earth's atmosphere. It's not friction from contact, it's radiant heat from compression. The air can't get out of the way fast enough to avoid being compressed into a blob of glowing plasma that cooks the object toaster-oven style.

The air, she gets irritable when squished.

 

[Jaylotw]

It's the same "holy shit!" sort of thing that's responsible for why a meteorite or spacecraft gets hot when entering the Earth's atmosphere. It's not friction from contact, it's radiant heat from compression. The air can't get out of the way fast enough to avoid being compressed into a blob of glowing plasma that cooks the object toaster-oven style.

The air, she gets irritable when squished.

Oh yeah. 14psi to about 5000psi in a millisecond or so? Lotta heat. I've heard ranges from 2200° to "as hot as the surface of the sun," and there's probably someone very good at math who could do math things and find a reasonably close number for the Titan situation but...man, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it all.

 

[sablebrush52]

So the occupants were actually vaporized. Never thought of that.

 

[brian64]

Meanwhile, OceanGate is attempting to make all of this somehow normal so that they can continue to operate and make money. And let's not forget, "innovate". OceanGate need to be shut down.

Great fodder for satire:

OceanGate Offers 20% Off Coupon For Next Tour

EVERETT, WA — Following a slight hiccup involving a tin can and 6,000 PSI of water pressure in the unforgiving depths of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, deep-sea tourism company OceanGate is now offering a 20% off coupon for its next tour.

babylonbee.com

 

[Chasing Embers]

Great fodder for satire:

OceanGate Offers 20% Off Coupon For Next Tour

EVERETT, WA — Following a slight hiccup involving a tin can and 6,000 PSI of water pressure in the unforgiving depths of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, deep-sea tourism company OceanGate is now offering a 20% off coupon for its next tour.

babylonbee.com

My pitch black sense of humor enjoyed that.

 

[anotherbob]

I suspect there's a middle road.

Not on the internet. Here it's all or nothing.

Stepping in front of a speeding train for kicks isn't what I'd be doing.

 

[anotherbob]

Terrible! Terrible! And they all signed waivers knowing the risks and the knowledge that there would be no backup sub or ROV. I wouldn't have crawled into that shoddy piece of shit knowing it's history.

now comes the part where the families and the company get to find out how not binding waivers are or are not. Should be interesting.

 

[woodsroad]

The hull was in fact made by middle aged guys.

It worked very well, until it didn’t.

Built to spec. Not built, not tested, not certified for it’s intended use.

 

[LeafErikson]

I don't really read much of the news except for my local paper but this story seems to have really taken off. Despite my obstinate determination to live in a bubble I've heard of this story from multiple sources. It's unfortunate that those people lost their lives.

 

[Briar Lee]

Built to spec. Not built, not tested, not certified for it’s intended use.

Studying this a bit, it becomes obvious why there wasn’t any certification.

The entire number of deep sea submersibles is less than ten, and all the others are made of titanium.

Alvin is typical. It weighs 17 tons and has two inch walls on the pressure hull.

Titan was the only deep submersible that used carbon fiber, five inches for the pressure hull walls.

Sixty years of experience has taught exactly how many dives a titanium hull stands before it needs rebuilt. Alvin has been rebuilt maybe ten times, so far.

With carbon fiber, they’ve learned however many dives Titan made was too many.

It’s going to be a long time before another carbon fiber pressure hull is built.

 

[mso489]

The carbon fiber hull, not necessarily this one, could have been tested robotically to find out how many dives at what depths it could withstand.

The Titan debris was found by a remotely controlled vehicle.

 

[jpmcwjr]

This seems like a good place and time to wrap this up. I see hints of morbid curiosity, so let's quit before it happens.