More on the missing sub

[thewayne]

Some very interesting stuff in this article from National Public Radio. They sent a correspondent on a dive, and he reported that there are seven different ways for the sub to jettison weight for an emergency surface, including an automatic method with a dissolving rope!

From the article: "What you can do is rise to the surface. And there are seven different ways to return to the surface. Just redundancy after redundancy. They can drop sandbags, they can drop lead pipes, they can inflate a balloon, they can use the thrusters. They can even jettison the legs of the sub to lose weight. And some of these, by the way, work even if the power is out and even if everyone on board is passed out. So there's sort of a dead man's switch such that the hooks holding on to sandbags dissolve after a certain number of hours in the water, release the sandbags and bring you to the surface, even if you're unconscious."

So it might be sitting on the surface of the ocean, just currently undetected: one problem is that the seas in that area are six foot white caps, and I don't know why unless it's for photography/aesthetic reasons, the submersible is WHITE. A nice addition would be a radio transponder that activates when exposed to air. I'd want it painted in squares of black, white, and safety orange. Something easily spotted from the air.

I think today or tomorrow is pretty much the limit for their air.

At least with having heard banging, the search coordinators have an area that they can concentrate their efforts in. But it is still pretty grim odds.

If it did sink to the bottom of the ocean, the US Navy does have a recovery vehicle capable of working at such depth: it recovered an F-35 aircraft last year off the South China Sea that had a bit of a misfortune while trying to land on a carrier. But I read something about the ship that could carry it what was based closest to that part of the Atlantic was decommissioned last year.

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/20/1183273102/titan-missing-sub-titanic-rescue-oceangate

Comments

[murakozi]

White might be used because it could make the craft more visible to others in deep water. If I recall correctly, other submersibles I've seen such as Alvin tend to be white with an orange conning tower-ish structure on top.

[elayna]

Criminy, so they could be on the surface and still suffocate because the sub is sealed shut? That would be appalling irony.

[disneydream06]

From things I hear, that company will soon be lawsuited out of existence. :o :o :o
Hugs, Jon

[thewayne]

Hard to say about that: the waivers they sign mention death as a possibility three times on the FIRST PAGE. I'm sure they made those contracts as strong as possible.

[disneydream06]

WOW... Yet another neon sign saying DON'T GO DOWN THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o :o :o

[motodraconis]

They are dead for sure. It'll be getting cold, and once they start shivering, the oxygen would last only 36 hours. Then there's the build up of CO2, which would kill them before the oxygen ran out, (and power failure and the CO2 scrubbers would not work and the levels will build up fast.) Lastly, 4 tourists panicking and terrified in a claustrophobic sealed coffin. Panic attacks, hyperventilating, elevated heartrate. They are already dead, and it would have been a terrifying way to die.

The device is shonky as fuck, utter madness.

[thewayne]

At this point, yeah, they'll be shifting to recovery rather than rescue soon. Extreme adventuring sometimes has its cost, much like climbing Everest.

Myself, I've never had much interest in the wreck of the Titanic. The ship itself was pretty cool, but the wreck doesn't hold much interest to me. I saw the Queen Mary II (IIRC), which is on permanent exhibit in Long Beach(?), California. That was pretty awesome!

[richardf8]

So if it's trapped amid debris from the Titanic, then what?

[thewayne]

Very hard to say. I was reading about one trip to the Titanic aboard a Russian mini submarine when they got caught by an unexpected very fast underwater current that slammed them into one of the Titanic's propellers and they got stuck! It took the pilot three hours of jiggling the craft to wiggle free!

I have no idea what the debris field looks like. Theoretically they can easily drop ballast, so may not be on the floor.

[silveradept]

It's good that they're are at least some safety measures that were implemented for the craft. I doubt there will have been enough of them for there to be survivors, but I will more than happily accept being wrong about that.

[thewayne]

Yeah... last I read they found a debris field on the floor.  Not encouraging news.

[kaishin108]

Yes, the news tonight sounds pretty dismal. Even if they don't go out of business, who will want to take this tour now. So sad.