Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 649 posts

Re: Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

#101

Post by zh3 »

scarnz wrote: post #30

This appears to be the vessel in question: https://oceangate.com/our-subs/titan-submersible.html Pressure hull made from titanium and carbon fiber, capable of diving to 4000m (13,000 ft). I recall that one reason SpaceX switched from carbon fiber to stainless steel pressure vessels (fuel tanks) was the difficulty of detecting structural flaws. Can any engineers comment on whether that task is easier for a vessel expo…

I imagine the search and rescue effort have checked the seismograph/ocean sounds/other networks, AIUI an implosion at depth makes quite a bang, so not detecting one would be a positive.

Re: Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

#103

Post by MallocVoidstar »

MiguelX413 wrote: post #102

Why do they keep emphasizing the fact that the submarine has gone missing and not the people within it?

As far as I can tell I think the company involved hasn't released a passenger list.

edit: An earlier version of the BBC's article said it wasn't known if people were on it at all; clearly there were, but I'd bet this is why the headline is so unclear.

Re: Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

#104

Post by base698 »

dtagames wrote: post #26
mongol wrote: post #5

I had no idea that "tourists" visited Titanic. Is this the new thing after Everest became crowded?

[flagged]

Sometimes how epic an idea is takes precedence over how risky something appears.

Were that not our inclination as a species we'd never have left the Earth or sailed the seas.

Re: Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

#105

Post by stickfigure »

floxy wrote: post #95
pge wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The CBS news article referenced in another reply says the body of the sub is 5-inch thick carbon fiber with titanium used in the rounded ends. I am surprised it’s just carbon fiber in the body.

Here is an article with a few more details on the construction of the Cyclops vessel: https://www.compositesworld.com/articles/composite-submersib... ...still not seeing what the carbon fiber is buying here, other than historical reasons / "that's how we do composite pressure vessels". Maybe it adds some slight rigidity when it is being raised up out of the water?

I would guess weight? From pictures, the launch platform doesn't look like something that could manage a tube fabricated from 5" thick steel.

Re: Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

#106

Post by swader999 »

imglorp wrote: post #53
ralphhughes wrote: post #40

Skimming the website, I assume this submersible is using electromagnetically attached drop-weights so that if anything goes wrong and power is lost, the weights drop off and the submersible floats up to the surface again? And 96 hours of life support sounds good, but unless there is another submersible nearby that can dive down, find them AND attach a line, the number of hours of life support will be irrelevant. Of c…

A location pinger would be a no brainer but like you say, it only helps if there's another sub with a grapple in range, in time. I understand why oceanographers /might/ want to do this, but not in person when ROV tech is so good now, for biology and tourism. There are so many things that can happen to fragile humans in that complex machine: drowning, freezing, asphyxiating, crushing, oxygen narcosis, nitrogen narcosi…

Trust in experts.

Re: Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

#107

Post by mannykannot »

imglorp wrote: post #53
ralphhughes wrote: post #40

Skimming the website, I assume this submersible is using electromagnetically attached drop-weights so that if anything goes wrong and power is lost, the weights drop off and the submersible floats up to the surface again? And 96 hours of life support sounds good, but unless there is another submersible nearby that can dive down, find them AND attach a line, the number of hours of life support will be irrelevant. Of c…

A location pinger would be a no brainer but like you say, it only helps if there's another sub with a grapple in range, in time. I understand why oceanographers /might/ want to do this, but not in person when ROV tech is so good now, for biology and tourism. There are so many things that can happen to fragile humans in that complex machine: drowning, freezing, asphyxiating, crushing, oxygen narcosis, nitrogen narcosi…

Not that it appeals to me, but I would guess that the appeal of the Titanic lies in it being the canonical 'technological hubris' story and a contender in the 'if only...' category.

Re: Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

#108

Post by MiguelX413 »

MallocVoidstar wrote: post #103
MiguelX413 wrote: post #102

Why do they keep emphasizing the fact that the submarine has gone missing and not the people within it?

As far as I can tell I think the company involved hasn't released a passenger list. edit: An earlier version of the BBC's article said it wasn't known if people were on it at all; clearly there were, but I'd bet this is why the headline is so unclear.

I see. Regardless it sounds like it was unmanned because of the deëmphasis on the missing passengers. It's like saying “missing car” when people that were in a car go missing.

Re: Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

#110

Post by jbverschoor »

lode wrote: post #85
ralphhughes wrote: post #40

Skimming the website, I assume this submersible is using electromagnetically attached drop-weights so that if anything goes wrong and power is lost, the weights drop off and the submersible floats up to the surface again? And 96 hours of life support sounds good, but unless there is another submersible nearby that can dive down, find them AND attach a line, the number of hours of life support will be irrelevant. Of c…

David Pogue went down with the same vessel last year for CBS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29co_Hksk6o "I couldn't help noticing how many pieces of the sub seemed... improvised."

Move fast and break things

Fix it in post

Save/load game

Post reply on HN