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Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

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Re: Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

#871
post #863
post #852

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does he ever explain why carbon fiber and bluetooth were improvements over working technology?

I remember seeing a claim that the Bluetooth part was a feature since you could just "pass the controller" inside the cabin but I haven't been able to find a source for it. As for the carbon fibre: > OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush says the company had been evaluating the potential of using a carbon fiber composite hull since 2010, primarily because it permits creation of a pressure vessel that is naturally buoyant and,…

It kind of makes sense considering the only viewport is on the opposite side of the submarine away from the PCs which interface with the controls.

Maybe the intent was for someone to peak out the window to perform a maneuver.

Still, I hope there was a wired controller as a backup just in case.

Re: Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

#872
post #852

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the attitude you need to give birth to truly innovative ideas like a Bluetooth controller attached to the desktop PC that controlled his hunk of shit submarine that killed everyone on board. He proudly describes it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClkytJa0ghc

Does he ever explain why carbon fiber and bluetooth were improvements over working technology?

I read somewhere that by reducing the weight of the hull, it eliminated the need for the expensive tooling traditionally needed on the mothership to hoist the vessel in and out of the water. This was key to the business model of his shoestring budget amusement park ride to the bottom of the sea.

Re: Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

#873
post #829

The most troubling thing about this to me is Stockton Rush’s cavalier attitude toward ageism [1]. In considering young college graduates as uniquely “inspirational” he set them up for a lifetime of guilt. I don’t think age or race has any place in inspirational calculus. I’m uncomfortable with how comfortably he dismisses submariner veterans as “old white guys”. Engineering is a discipline that requires experience an…

And yet despite the naivety of their youth, his engineers still spoke out against his contraption and were fired. I don’t think an old man in the room would have helped.

Re: Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

#874

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Florida man [1]. More seriously, you have to remember that this was in a time before there were a million rules, regulations, and lawsuits for everything. The first commercial airline was a man with a plane, likely largely "self built" (whatever that means in a time before aviation industrialization), who started offering flights in Florida across a peninsula. It worked, it was profitable, there was a market - commer…

> The first commercial airline was a man with a plane, The Florida Man you linked was the pilot for two other men [1], the first commercial air service was Delag operating Zepplin airships .. followed by Aero Rt in Hungary .. then followed by [1] in Florida. I can't (right now at least) determine if Aero Rt was operating airships or airplanes ... so you may or may not be correct wrt planes at least. [1] https://en.wi…

Yeah, I'm only referring to airplanes, and Florida man was definitely the first there. But zeppelins, hot air balloons, and other methods of air transport obviously came well before airplanes.

Re: Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

#875

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turns out the Navy heard it, based on a WSJ article. They started actively listening when notified that contact was lost, and shortly after they picked up what sounded like an implosion or explosion.

Weren’t they notified 8+ hours after contact was lost?

"The Navy began listening for the Titan almost as soon as the sub lost communications, according to a U.S. defense official. Shortly after the submersible’s disappearance Sunday, the U.S. system detected what it suspected was the sound of an implosion near the debris site discovered Thursday and reported its findings to the Coast Guard commander on site, U.S. defense officials said. [...] The Navy said it shared its findings Sunday with the Coast Guard, which led the search, U.S. defense officials said. " https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-navy-detected-titan-sub-imp...

Re: Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

#876
post #829

The most troubling thing about this to me is Stockton Rush’s cavalier attitude toward ageism [1]. In considering young college graduates as uniquely “inspirational” he set them up for a lifetime of guilt. I don’t think age or race has any place in inspirational calculus. I’m uncomfortable with how comfortably he dismisses submariner veterans as “old white guys”. Engineering is a discipline that requires experience an…

[deleted]

Re: Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

#877

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the attitude you need to give birth to truly innovative ideas like a Bluetooth controller attached to the desktop PC that controlled his hunk of shit submarine that killed everyone on board. He proudly describes it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClkytJa0ghc

I do agree with you, though I think BT game controller wasn't a bad idea for two reasons: - Battle-tested and easily replaceable, compared to a custom one. - Cables have a snapping risk in that limited physical space, Bluetooth solves it and there's no risk of EMI 4km underwater anyway. The carbonfiber structure... that's another story. Terrible.

It's simply not fit for the purpose. The ocean floor is an incredibly inhospitable place. This is safety critical. It's like performing surgery in a hospital setting with a pocket knife to cut costs. Though if fate hadn't already killed them by now, I'm sure the cavalier "who wants to drive?" passing the controller around the cabin would have gotten them snagged on the wreckage in due time. (Remember the Russian jet that crashed when the captain turned the controls over to his kids?) I am consumed by this story and how every new detail revealed seems more and more insane.

Re: Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

#878

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Add an eccentric CEO operating against everyone's advice, some rich passangers, and it's a dream for the media.

Oh yeah. The media. How convenient. Nobody would have an interest in this if it wasn't for "the media" pushing for a story.

It's a dream for the media because it interests people.

Not everything has to be a conspiracy.

Re: Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

#879

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the attitude you need to give birth to truly innovative ideas like a Bluetooth controller attached to the desktop PC that controlled his hunk of shit submarine that killed everyone on board. He proudly describes it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClkytJa0ghc

I do agree with you, though I think BT game controller wasn't a bad idea for two reasons: - Battle-tested and easily replaceable, compared to a custom one. - Cables have a snapping risk in that limited physical space, Bluetooth solves it and there's no risk of EMI 4km underwater anyway. The carbonfiber structure... that's another story. Terrible.

It's not battle tested.

The navy uses the standard actually battle tested xbox controller and the logitech one has many 1 star reviews on amazon, enough said.

You can literally search on google and see this in 5 seconds, it's bizarre that it keeps being spouted in some posts, almost makes me a bit suspicious because it's so dumb.

Re: Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

#880
post #829

The most troubling thing about this to me is Stockton Rush’s cavalier attitude toward ageism [1]. In considering young college graduates as uniquely “inspirational” he set them up for a lifetime of guilt. I don’t think age or race has any place in inspirational calculus. I’m uncomfortable with how comfortably he dismisses submariner veterans as “old white guys”. Engineering is a discipline that requires experience an…

Most old engineers I’ve worked with are terrible and many younger ones are way more talented.

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