Mounting a rescue at the depth of the Titanic is no easy task. It would be damn near impossible to get them to the surface before they ran out of air if they had rescue craft on scene the minute it became apparent there was a problem. As I said before, it’s likely that the next time we see this half assed “submersible” will be when Cameron does a documentary about looking for it.

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
Style is one thing, actual design and construction is something completely different.

Is that Logitech controller built with mil-spec parts and construction? Or is it commercial grade?

How about all the connectors in their system? Are the mil-spec? Are they accessible by the crew while submerged? Connectors develop high resistance over time due to oxidation, and solder joints or wiring fails. I cannot count how many times maintenance swapped boxes in an airplane or just unmated and rejoined connectors due to connector problems. And that's with high quality mil-spec hardware.

No, it's an off the shelf XBox controller. The Captain of the USS Indiana explains this in the tour of his Virginia class SSN:



Mind you, the XBox controller is only controlling what passes for the periscope, not navigational control of the sub.

quote:

I suspect much of this is hype created by the media to keep people watching unfortunately.

I agree. I also bet if a member of this forum who perhaps had served on a submarine in the Navy called a news agency and told them there was a new angle on this and made something up utilizing elements of the turbo encabulator we'd see him on the 6pm News tomorrow.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:

quote:

I suspect much of this is hype created by the media to keep people watching unfortunately.

I agree. I also bet if a member of this forum who perhaps had served on a submarine in the Navy called a news agency and told them there was a new angle on this and made something up utilizing elements of the turbo encabulator we'd see him on the 6pm News tomorrow.

Captain Sum Ting Wong..... from Asiana Flight 214?

My wife and I discussed this. I wonder if this is what they "hope" this sound is. If I was in a sub stuck on the bottom, I would bang the wrench more often than every 30 minutes. I would be doing it at a pretty steady rate, oxygen be damned, because more is better in this case if I want someone to find me.

A sound several days ago might mean something but now that all sorts of other equipment is showing up there, a lot less so.

The second person in this video that apparently took a ride in the sub notes that the occupants are bolted in from the outside. Therefore if they made it to the surface, they're still trapped inside.

I have to wonder who designs a sealed vessel intended for human cargo where the primary access point is secured from the outside??

I then wonder who would be dumb enough to get into something like that knowing that even if you could surface, you can't get out!?

Seems to me that other submersibles I have seen have been painted bright orange. So, you know, they can actually FIND the damn thing. This thing is a nice shade of white, which blends in like camo. Just wonderful.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
I then wonder who would be dumb enough to get into something like that knowing that even if you could surface, you can't get out!?

Right there with you! I would think that what happened to Apollo 1 would have somehow transferred to the design/thinking for the hatch on this vessel??? Guess not...

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
The second person in this video that apparently took a ride in the sub notes that the occupants are bolted in from the outside. Therefore if they made it to the surface, they're still trapped inside.

I have to wonder who designs a sealed vessel intended for human cargo where the primary access point is secured from the outside??

I then wonder who would be dumb enough to get into something like that knowing that even if you could surface, you can't get out!?

The answer to the first question is the CEO, who is one of the people on the sub

The answer to the second question is the other four people on the sub. Also, all of the other people who have gone on this trip before.

To be honest, compared to the risk of the sub imploding at depth, the possibility of the sub making it to the surface and not being able to be found and the crew not being gotten out in time, is probably a lot lower. If they were capable of getting back to the surface, they would have already done so, and been found.

quote:

Originally posted by DanH:
Mind you, the XBox controller is only controlling what passes for the periscope, not navigational control of the sub.

That's the crux of anyone attempting to make an argument around usage of a game controller. The military uses them for non-critical tasks, where replacements are readily available, their failure isn't mission critical and the costs aren't exorbitant compared to its intended usage.

quote:

I have to wonder who designs a sealed vessel intended for human cargo where the primary access point is secured from the outside??

When I was growing up we were told to never climb into open refrigerators because they used to come with latches that required a lever action to open, from the outside. I personally added another "sealed from the outside" container to my DO NOT ENTER list: containers destined to go over waterfalls. Granted, that was after watching a movie reel in elementary school about the "Niagra Daredevils".

This thread certainly helps me add another item to the list of things to not clambour into because you can't get out. Or escape. Or breath inside of.

Cripes. The more I read and learn about this the more fucked this whole thing seems.

Let's face it, they all paid $250,000 each to be sealed into a steel coffin and buried at sea among the dead of the Titanic.

Not the way I'd like to go.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
I then wonder who would be dumb enough to get into something like that knowing that even if you could surface, you can't get out!?

Right there with you! I would think that what happened to Apollo 1 would have somehow transferred to the design/thinking for the hatch on this vessel??? Guess not...

Made a similar comment to a coworker today, RE: Apollo 1

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
I then wonder who would be dumb enough to get into something like that knowing that even if you could surface, you can't get out!?

Right there with you! I would think that what happened to Apollo 1 would have somehow transferred to the design/thinking for the hatch on this vessel??? Guess not...

One of my early flying jobs was flying freight in an MU-2. There was a cabin door on the aft left side, and the Captain's window could be opened. Those were the only way in or out.

We always tried to load the freight with a path from the cockpit to the rear door, though that was not always possible. Just in case we had to get out in a hurry and the window was not available (fire, bent frame, etc). It made me quite nervous when the back was loaded to block the rear exit.

Maybe pilots are just wired differently, but I can't imagine anyone thinking it was a good idea to be bolted inside a sub. They must never have engaged in what-if brainstorming.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
I then wonder who would be dumb enough to get into something like that knowing that even if you could surface, you can't get out!?

Right there with you! I would think that what happened to Apollo 1 would have somehow transferred to the design/thinking for the hatch on this vessel??? Guess not...

Apollo 1 couldn’t be opened from the inside or the outside because there was too much pressure inside the capsule.

Interestingly enough, NASA and Gus Grissom provide a lesson on what happens when you open the door while floating in the the ocean. Grissom’s capsule, Liberty Bell 7, sank and Grissom nearly drowned on that mission. In Grissom’s favor, his location was known and multiple helicopters were there to get him.

I’ll ask again, what difference does it make if the submersible could be opened from the inside? It would fill with water, sink, and the former occupants would be treading water in the North Atlantic.

Society has gotten so safe relative to what past generations experienced that more silly/unknowledgeable/inexperienced people survive long enough to perform dangerous actions without sufficient what-if analyses to understand/mitigate risks prior to embarking on those actions. Sometimes they luck out and get away with it, sometimes (as it’s beginning to appear in this case) they don’t.

quote:

’ll ask again, what difference does it make if the submersible could be opened from the inside?

Well underwater not so much, but if it resurfaced, you could open it, get air, shoot up a flare, call someone with a Sat Phone, Fire up an EPIRB, launch an inflatable raft, crawl outside and take a leak in the ocean.....

Yes, only one way out, the bolted hatch, takes a while to open.

That mentioned, I’m not thinking that element will be a player in a successful rescue. They didn’t publicly mention they even found the device yet. They may be hours ahead of the news stories.

Once they find it, getting it up(in time) won’t be easy. It may not even be intact anymore. Kinda interesting one of the better equipped ships is a deep water, pipe laying ship.

Odds are low, but I’ll wish them well.

That 1575’ deep rescue in 1973(record) didn’t go smoothly.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:


I have to wonder who designs a sealed vessel intended for human cargo where the primary access point is secured from the outside??

I then wonder who would be dumb enough to get into something like that knowing that even if you could surface, you can't get out!?

I've read that across many forums and while at first it's a good question, it's not really one that is alarming, compared with other forms of travel.

Astronauts can't open a hatch and jump out. We've known this for decades that complicated or certain types of travel require ground crews for assistance on ingress and egress.

Astronauts need help entering the spacecraft and they need to have help getting out. We've watched the ISS splashdowns where the support ship has to unbolt the doorframe before the astronauts can exit.

It's not alarming for the crew to be unable to open the hatch from the inside, at least not to me when you look at other things we things we think nothing of.